Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (with a birthdate of December 28, 1954) is an American actor who also works as a producer and director. Famed for his dramatic roles in film and theater, he is considered one of the greatest actors of his time, with The New York Times declaring him the best actor of the 21st century in 2020. Throughout his career, Washington has garnered numerous awards, including an Academy Award, Golden Globes, a SAG, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for Emmys and a Grammy. Washington has been honored with the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award (2019), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022). After training at the American Conservatory Theater, he started his acting career in theater, starring in off-Broadway shows. He first came to prominence in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (1982–1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (1984). He won two Oscars, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama *Glory* (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt cop in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington appeared in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (released in 2004), *Inside Man* (2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (from 2016). In theater, he has performed in productions like *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at The Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (1988). He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor in the Play category for his role as a disheartened blue-collar father in the Broadway revival of *Fences* by August Wilson (from 2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's *Julius Caesar* (2005), Lorraine Hansberry's play *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).