Table of Contents
Denzel Washington
Full Name
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. is his full name.1)
Birth
He was born in Mount Vernon, New York on December 28, 1954.2)
Parents
Denzel Washington, Sr., his father, was a Pentecostal pastor, and his mother, Lennis (Lowe), was a beautician.3)
Siblings
Denzel Washington has a younger brother named David and an older sister named Lorice.4)
Education
Denzel enrolled at Fordham University after graduating from high school, intending to pursue a career in journalism.5)
Starting Acting
He caught the acting bug after appearing in many undergraduate theatrical performances. After earning a B.A. in Drama and Journalism in 1977, Washington moved to San Francisco to pursue a scholarship at the American Conservatory Theater. He barely stayed for a year before going to New York to pursue a professional acting career.6)
First Paid Acting Job
In St. Mary's City, Maryland, he had his first paid acting job in a summer stock theater stage show. “Wings of the Morning” is a drama about the establishment of Maryland (now the state of Maryland) and the early days of the Maryland colonial assembly (a legislative body).7)
Big Debut
He made his feature film debut in the comedy A Carbon Copy (1981).8)
St.Elsewhere
Washington's breakthrough came when he featured as Dr. Phillip Chandler in NBC's television medical drama St. Elsewhere, which aired from 1982 to 1988.9)
More Productions
He also appeared in various television, motion picture, and stage productions, including A Soldier's Story (1984), Hard Lessons (1986), and Power(1986).10)
Cry Freedom
He got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1987 for his performance as South African anti-apartheid political leader Steven Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom.11)
Glory
Washington earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for his performance of Tripp, the fugitive slave in Edward Zwick's stirring historical drama Glory (1989).12)
Malcolm X
Spike Lee's biographical film Malcolm X (1992) featured him as the titular character. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his depiction of a Muslim African-American civil rights activist.13)
Philadelphia
In 1993 he portrayed lawyer Joe Miller in the 1993 drama picture Philadelphia, one of the first Hollywood films to address problems such as homosexuality, AIDS, and homophobia.14)
The Hurricane
Washington featured in The Hurricane in 1999, a film about boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, whose triple murder conviction was reversed after he served nearly 20 years in jail. For the role, Washington received a Golden Globe Award in 2000 and a Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.15)