Two-time Academy Award®-winning actor DENZEL WASHINGTON is a man constantly on the move. Never comfortable repeating himself or his successes, Washington is always in search of new challenges, and his numerous and varied film and stage portrayals bear this out. From Trip, an embittered runaway slave in “Glory,” to South African freedom fighter Steven Biko in “Cry Freedom” and from Shakespeare’s tragic historical figure “Richard III” to the womanizing trumpet player Bleek Gilliam in Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues,” Washington has amazed and entertained us with a rich array of characters distinctly his own.
In 2004, Washington collaborated with Tony Scott on “Man on Fire.” In this film, Washington plays an ex-Marine who has been hired to protect a young girl, played by Dakota Fanning, from kidnapping threats. That same year, Washington was also seen in “The Manchurian Candidate,” a modern-day remake of the 1962 classic film for Paramount Pictures. Washington starred alongside Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber in the part that Frank Sinatra made famous. He plays Bennett Marco, a Gulf War soldier who returns from combat and is unable to remember events as he has been brainwashed. The film was directed by Jonathan Demme.
Perhaps one of his most critically acclaimed performances to date was the Academy Award®-winning performance in “Training Day,” directed by Antoine Fuqua. The story revolves around a grizzled LAPD veteran, played by Washington, who shows a rookie narcotics cop, played by Ethan Hawke, the ropes on his first day of the soul-city beat. The film was one of only two in 2001 that spent two week at the number-one spot at the box office. In 2003, Washington was seen in “Out of Time,” directed by Carl Franklin. Washington played opposite Eva Mendez and Sanaa Lathan in the murder mystery thriller for MGM. He played a Florida police chief who must solve a double homicide before he falls under suspicion for the murders himself.
December 2002 marked Denzel Washington’s feature-film directorial debut with “Antwone Fisher.” The film, which is based on a true-life story and inspired by the best-selling autobiography “Finding Fish,” follows Fisher, a troubled young sailor played by newcomer Derek Luke, as he comes to terms with his past. The film won critical praise and was awarded the “Stanley Kramer Award” from the Producers Guild of America, and won an NAACP Award for “Outstanding Motion Picture” and “Outstanding Supporting Actor” for Washington. Also in 2002, Washington was seen in “John Q,” a story about a down-on-his-luck father whose son is in need of a heart transplant. The film established an opening-day record for President’s Day weekend, grossing $24.1 million and was the highest weekend gross in Washington’s illustrious career. The film garnered Washington an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.”
In September of 2000, he starred in Jerry Bruckheimer’s box-office sensation ($115 million domestic gross) “Remember the Titans,” a fact-based film about the integration of a high school football team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Earlier that year, he starred in Universal’s “The Hurricane,” reteaming with director Norman Jewison. Washington received a Golden Globe® Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award® nomination (his fourth) for his portrayal of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who was the world middle-weight champion boxer during the 1960s, who was wrongfully imprisoned twice for the June 17, 1966, murder of three whites in a New Jersey bar.
In November of 1999, he starred in Universal’s “The Bone Collector,” the adaptation of Jeffrey Deaver’s novel about the search for a serial killer, co-starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Phillip Noyce. He played the role of a quadriplegic police detective who is a forensics expert.
In 1998, he starred in the crime thriller “Fallen” (Warner Bros.), for director Greg Hoblit, and in Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” released by Touchstone (Disney). Also, he reteamed with director Ed Zwick in the Twentieth Century Fox terrorist thriller “The Siege,” co-starring Annette Bening and Bruce Willis.
In the summer of 1996, he starred in the critically acclaimed military drama “Courage Under Fire” for his “Glory” director, Ed Zwick. Washington portrayed Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling, a tank commander in the Gulf War who is charged with investigating conflicting reports surrounding the first female nominee for a Medal of Honor. Later that year, Washington starred opposite Whitney Houston in Penny Marshall’s romantic comedy “The Preacher’s Wife.” Washington played an angel who comes to the aid of Reverend Biggs (Courtney B. Vance) whose doubts about his ability to make a difference in his troubled community are also affecting his family.
In 1995, he starred opposite Gene Hackman as Navy Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter in Tony Scott’s underwater action adventure “Crimson Tide” as ex-cop Parker Barnes, released from prison to track down a computer-generated criminal in the futuristic thriller “Virtuosity,” and as World War II veteran Easy Rawlins in the 1940s romantic thriller “Devil in a Blue Dress” (which Washington’s Mundy Lane Entertainment produced with Jonathan Demme’s Clinica Estetico). Another critically acclaimed performance was his portrayal of Malcolm X, the complex and controversial black activist from the 1960s, in director Spike Lee’s biographical epic “Malcolm X.” Monumental in scope and filmed over a period of six months in the United States and Africa, “Malcolm X” was hailed by critics and audiences alike as one of the best films of 1992. For his portrayal, Denzel received a number of accolades including an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor.
In addition to his accomplishments on screen, Washington took on a very different type of role in 2000. He produced the HBO documentary “Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks,” which was nominated for two Emmys®. Also, he served as executive producer on “Hank Aaron: Chasing The Dream,” a biographical documentary for TBS, which was nominated for an Emmy® award. Additionally, Washington’s narration of the legend of “John Henry” was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award® in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children and he was awarded the 1996 NAACP Image Award for his performance in the animated children’s special “Happily Ever After: Rumpelstiltskin.”
A native of Mt. Vernon, New York, Washington had his career sights set on medicine when he attended Fordham University. During a stint as a summer-camp counselor, he appeared in one of their theater productions; Denzel was bitten by the acting bug and returned to Fordham that year seeking the tutelage of Robinson Stone, one of the school’s leading professors. Upon graduation from Fordham, Washington was accepted into San Francisco’s prestigious American Conservatory Theater. Following an intensive year of study in their theater program, he returned to New York after a brief stop in Los Angeles.
Washington’s professional New York theater career began with Joseph Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park and was quickly followed by numerous off-Broadway productions, including “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men,” “When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” (in which he portrayed Malcolm X), “One Tiger to a Hill,” “Man and Superman,” “Othello,” and “A Soldier’s Play,” for which he won an Obie Award. Washington’s more recent stage appearances include the Broadway production of “Checkmates” and “Richard III,” which was produced as part of the 1990 Free Shakespeare in the Park series hosted by Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in New York City.
Washington was “discovered” by Hollywood when he was cast in 1979 in the television film “Flesh and Blood.” But it was Denzel’s award-winning performance on stage in “A Soldier’s Play” that captured the attention of the producers of the NBC television series “St. Elsewhere,” and he was soon cast in that long-running hit series as Dr. Phillip Chandler. His other television credits include “The George McKenna Story,” “License to Kill,” and “Wilma.” In 1982, Washington re-created his role from “A Soldier’s Play” for Norman Jewison’s film version. Retitled “A Soldier’s Story,” Denzel’s portrayal of Private Peterson was critically well-received.
Washington went on to star in Sidney Lumet’s “Power,” Richard Attenborough’s “Cry Freedom,” for which he received his first Oscar® nomination, “For Queen and Country,” “The Mighty Quinn,” “Heart Condition,” “Glory,” for which he won the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor and Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues.” Washington also starred in the action,adventure film “Ricochet,” and in Mira Nair’s bittersweet comedy “Mississippi Masala.”
Additional film credits include Kenneth Branaugh’s film adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing,” Jonathan Demme’s controversial “Philadelphia” with Tom Hanks and “The Pelican Brief,” based on the John Grisham novel.
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