Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor who also works as a producer and director. Recognized for his powerful performances on stage and screen, he is often seen as one of the top actors of his generation, with a declaration from The New York Times naming him the top actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. He has won several prestigious awards over his career, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He has been awarded the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award (2019), and the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Following his training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He first came to prominence in the NBC medical drama series *St. Elsewhere* (from 1982 to 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (released in 1984). He won two Oscars, his first for Supporting Actor for playing a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt law enforcement officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (from 1987), *Malcolm X* (released in 1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (2021). A prominent leading man, Washington also acted in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and the *Equalizer* films (from 2014 to 2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (in 2007), and *Fences* (2016). On stage, he has performed in productions like *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. His Broadway debut came in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (released in 1988). He received a 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 (released in 2010). He has also appeared in the Broadway revivals of Shakespeare's *Julius Caesar* (2005), Hansberry's *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and O'Neill's *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).