Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (with a birthdate of December 28, 1954) is a celebrated American actor, producer, and filmmaker. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is widely regarded as one of the best 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 an Academy Award, Golden Globes, a SAG, and a Tony Award in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He received the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), 2019 AFI Life Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022). After studying at the American Conservatory Theater, he started his acting career in theater, with roles in off-Broadway productions. He first came to prominence in the NBC drama *St. Elsewhere* (from 1982 to 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 a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (released in 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* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). A renowned leading man, Washington appeared in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (released in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (from 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (from 2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (in 2007), and *Fences* (2016). In theater, he has performed in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (1988). He received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play *Fences* (2010). He has also acted 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).