Washington (with a birthdate of December 28, 1954) is a celebrated American actor, producer, and filmmaker. Recognized for his powerful performances on stage and screen, he is considered one of the greatest actors of his time, with The New York Times calling him the best actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. Over his career he has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award along with nominations in Emmys and a Grammy. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), 2019 AFI Life Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, he launched his career in theater, starring in off-Broadway shows. 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* (in 1984). He won two Academy Awards, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (released in 1989) and his second for Best Actor 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* (from 1987), *Malcolm X* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (from 2012), *Fences* (2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (2021). A prominent leading man, Washington appeared in movies including *Mo' Better Blues* (released in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (1993), *Courage Under Fire* (1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (from 2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (released in 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (from 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 in New York. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in the Play category for his role as a disillusioned father from the working class in the Broadway revival of *Fences* by August Wilson (from 2010). He has also starred in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's *Julius Caesar* (2005), Lorraine Hansberry's play *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).