Denzel Washington (born on December 28, 1954) is an American actor who also works as a producer and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is often seen as one of the top actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 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 Emmys and a Grammy. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), 2019 AFI Life Achievement Award, and the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, starring in off-Broadway shows. He gained early fame in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (from 1982 to 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (in 1984). He won two Oscars, his first for Supporting Actor for playing a soldier during the Civil War in the war drama *Glory* (released in 1989) and his second for the role of Best Actor for playing a corrupt law enforcement officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was received Oscar nominations for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (from 1987), *Malcolm X* (released in 1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (from 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). A prominent leading man, Washington also acted in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (1991), *Philadelphia* (from 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (in 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (released in 2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (from 2014 to 2023). Washington both starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (in 2016). In theater, he has acted in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at The Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (in 1988). He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor on Broadway for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of the play *Fences* by August Wilson (from 2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of the plays *Julius Caesar* (2005), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).