Washington (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 widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the best actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. Throughout his career, Washington has garnered numerous awards, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for Emmys and a Grammy. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022). Following his training at the American Conservatory Theater, he launched his career in theater, with roles in off-Broadway productions. He gained early fame 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 has two Academy Awards to his name, his first for Supporting Actor for playing a soldier during the Civil War in the war drama *Glory* (1989) and his second for the Best Actor category for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (released in 2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). A prominent leading man, Washington appeared in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (1991), *Philadelphia* (from 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (2006), *American Gangster* (released in 2007), and the *Equalizer* trilogy (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (from 2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (2016). In theater, Washington has appeared in performances of *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 a Play for his role as a disheartened blue-collar father in the Broadway revival of the play *Fences* by August Wilson (2010). He has also starred in the Broadway revivals of the plays *Julius Caesar* (2005), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).