Denzel Washington (born on 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 a declaration from The New York Times naming him the greatest actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. Throughout his career, Washington has garnered numerous awards, including two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a SAG Award, and a Tony Award along with nominations in two Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award. Washington has been honored with the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. After studying at the American Conservatory Theater, he started his acting 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 has two Academy Awards to his name, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing a soldier during the Civil War 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* (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington also acted in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (1993), *Courage Under Fire* (in 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (2002), *The Great Debaters* (from 2007), and *Fences* (in 2016). On stage, Washington has appeared in performances of *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (in 1988). He received a Tony Award for Best Actor in the Play category for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of *Fences* by August Wilson (from 2010). He has also starred 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).