Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was born on December 28, 1954, in Mount Vernon, a community whose name would become attached to one of the more decorated careers in American performance. Washington attended Mount Vernon High School before enrolling at Fordham University, where his formal education provided a foundation for the professional work that followed.
Washington has worked as an actor across film, television, and stage, and has also taken on the roles of director, producer, film director, film producer, and spokesperson. His work as a film actor has contributed to a collective worldwide gross exceeding $5.1 billion across the films in which he has appeared. His engagement with the stage, alongside his screen and television work, reflects a professional range that has drawn recognition from institutions across multiple disciplines.
The honors Washington has accumulated span several distinct areas of performance. In film, he has received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Academy Award for Best Actor, along with Golden Globe Awards in the Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama categories. His stage work brought him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. On the international festival circuit, he has received two Silver Bears and the Honorary Palme d'Or. Beyond the entertainment industry, Washington was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Separately, The New York Times listed him as the greatest actor of the 21st century.
Washington's career as an American actor, director, and producer has been conducted in English and has drawn recognition from critics, industry organizations, and international festival bodies. The range of those honors — from Broadway to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to the Cannes Film Festival — reflects the breadth of his activity across stage, screen, and television. His education at Fordham University in the years before his professional career began marks the starting point of a trajectory that would eventually include some of the most prominent awards available to performers working in the English-speaking world.
Quotes by Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington's insights on:
Debate is combat. Your weapons are words. In a debate there is a resolution. One team, called the affirmative team, argues for the resolution.
My mother used to tell me that 'man gives the award, God give the reward.' I don't need another plaque'
At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
The only reason I’m acting in films I direct is to get the money to make them, quite frankly, it’s not what I’m interested in doing.
When you make a movie it’s always interesting, because you end up in places you never would as a normal visitor or tourist.
You don’t know when you’re being watched. That’s one of the weird things about celebrity. It’s my least favorite part of acting, celebrity.
I always think it’s not what we know that’s terrifying; it’s what we don’t know. That’s sort of pervasive with everything in life.