Denzel Washington (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Famed for his dramatic roles in film and theater, he is often seen as one of the top actors of his generation, with a declaration from The New York Times naming him the best actor of the 21st century in 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 in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award. He received the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award (2019), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. Following his training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He was first recognized widely in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (from 1982 to 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (1984). He won two Academy Awards, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (from 1989) and his second for the Best Actor category for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (2012), *Fences* (from 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). A renowned leading man, Washington also acted in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (in 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (released in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington both starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (from 2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (2016). On stage, he has acted in performances of *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at The Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play *Fences* (from 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).