On This Day

Birthday of Denzel Washington

December 28th 1954

14:24 28 December 2022

American actor, director and producer Denzel Washington was born on this day in 1954. Washington began his career in theatre, acting in performances off-Broadway. His big breakthrough came with TV medical drama 'St. Elsewhere' (1982-1988).

Significant film roles followed in 'A Soldier's Story' (1984), 'Cry Freedom' (1987), 'For Queen & Country' (1988) and 'Glory' (1989) for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. By the 1990s he was firmly established as a leading man with major roles in among others 'Malcolm X' (1992), 'Much Ado About Nothing' (1993), 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), 'Philadelphia' (1993), 'Crimson Tide' (1995), 'Devil in a Blue Dress' (1995) and 'The Hurricane' (1999). Further acclaim and accolades continued into the new millennium including a second Oscar win for Best Actor for his performance as corrupt police officer Alonzo Harris in 'Training Day' (2001).

Washington made his directorial debut with the well-received drama 'Antwone Fisher' (2002). Other notable film credits include 'Man on Fire' (2004), 'The Manchurian Candidate' (2004), 'Inside Man' (2006), 'American Gangster' (2007), 'Flight' (2012), 'The Equalizer' (2014), 'Fences' (2016), 'The Equalizer 2' (2018), 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' (2021) and 'The Equalizer 3' (2023).

With a filmography that has seen him play a wide variety of roles, he has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Denzel Washington is without doubt one of the greatest actors of his generation. Happy Birthday Denzel.