Actor and director Denzel Washington burst onto the big screen with an Oscar and Golden Globe-winning role... (Learn more)
Top Projects: Glory, Remember the Titans, The Pelican Brief (View All)
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Denzel Washington’s Milestones
| Founded Mundy Lane Entertainment, named for the street on which he grew up | |
| Opened Georgia, a restaurant in Los Angeles | |
| Theatrical debut in Fordham University production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Emperor Jones" | |
| While a camp counselor in Lakeville, CT, took his first turn onstage during a talent show | |
| Worked in New York with New Federal Theater and Negro Ensemble Company | |
| 1977 | TV-movie debut in "Wilma" (CBS), biography of Olympic runner Wilma Rudolph; future wife Pauletta Pearson also acted in telefilm |
| 1979 | Acted in CBS miniseries "Flesh and Blood" |
| 1979 | Appeared in New York Shakespeare Festival (NYSF) production of "Coriolanus" |
| 1981 | Feature film debut in "Carbon Copy" |
| 1981 | First time playing Malcolm Shabazz (aka Malcolm X) in New Federal Theater stage production of "When the Chicken Comes Home to Roost" |
| 1981 | Originated role of PFC Melvin Peterson in Charles Fuller's Pulitzer-winning "A Soldier's Play" at the Negro Ensemble Theater |
| 1982 | TV series debut as regular playing Dr Phillip Chandler on the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere" |
| 1984 | Earned critical praise for reprising Peterson in Norman Jewison's film "A Soldier's Story"; adapted from Fuller's play |
| 1986 | Selected by director Sidney Lumet for the role of a public relations executive in "Power"; part was originally written for a white man |
| 1987 | Made Broadway debut in disastrous run of Ron Milner's "Checkmates" |
| 1987 | Portrayed martyred South African leader Steven Biko in Richard Attenborogh's "Cry Freedom"; earning first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor |
| 1988 | First time headlining a feature, the British film "For Queen and Country" |
| 1989 | Earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work as the defiant slave-turned-soldier in "Glory"; first film with director Edward Zwick |
| 1989 | US debut as feature lead, "The Mighty Quinn" |
| 1990 | Initial collaboration with director Spike Lee, "Mo' Better Blues" playing jazz musician Bleek Gilliam |
| 1991 | Essayed title role in NYSF production of "Richard III" |
| 1992 | Excelled as a carpet salesman in the small art film "Mississippi Masala" |
| 1992 | Played the Black Nationalist leader, "Malcolm X"; second film with Lee; garnered Best Actor Academy Award nomination |
| 1993 | Acted opposite Julia Roberts in "The Pelican Brief" |
| 1993 | Displayed his Shakespearean chops as Don Pedro in Kenneth Brannagh's film adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing" |
| 1993 | Portrayed ambulance-chasing lawyer who, inspite of his own homophobia, agrees to represent an AIDS-stricken lawyer (Tom Hanks) who claims discrimination in his dismissal from a law firm in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" |
| 1995 | Executive produced TV documentary, "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream" (TBS) |
| 1995 | Headlined the adventure-thriller "Crimson Tide"; teamed him with Gene Hackman |
| 1995 | Starred in Carl Franklin's film noir, "The Devil in a Blue Dress"; first feature produced under the auspices of his production company Mundy Lane |
| 1996 | Acted opposite Whitney Houston in Penny Marshall's "The Preacher's Wife" |
| 1996 | Reteamed with Zwick for "Courage Under Fire" |
| 1997 | Made directing debut with "In Harm's Way," a music video for the Winans |
| 1998 | Reteamed with Lee for "He Got Game" |
| 1998 | Third film with Edward Zwick, "The Siege" |
| 1999 | Delivered a convincing turn as a paralyzed NYC criminologist who helps solve the identity of a serial killer in "The Bone Collector" |
| 1999 | Played former middleweight boxer Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter in Norman Jewison's "Hurricane"; received Best Actor Oscar nomination |
| 2000 | Starred in Boaz Yakin's "Remember the Titans"; film was based on the true story of a newly-integrated high school football team in the South going on to a state championship |
| 2000 | Was one of the producers of the documentary "Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks" |
| 2001 | Undertook villainous role as a cop on the take paired with a rookie (Ethan Hawke) in "Training Day"; received Oscar as Best Actor |
| 2002 | Feature directorial debut, "The Antwone Fisher Story"; also co-starred |
| 2002 | Starred in "John Q" as a man who confronts an HMO that withholds treatment from his ill child |
| 2003 | Portrayed Chief Detective Matt Whitlock in the thriller "Out of Time" |
| 2004 | Cast in the role of Bennet Marco, originally played by Frank Sinatra, in remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" |
| 2004 | Starred opposite Dakota Fanning in Tony Scott's "Man on Fire" |
| 2005 | Starred as Brutus in the Broadway production of "Julius Caesar" |
| 2006 | Reteamed with director Spike Lee for the fourth time to star in the hostage drama "Inside Man" |
| 2006 | Reteamed with director Tony Scott for the thriller, "DéjÀ Vu" |
| 2007 | Cast as Frank Lucas, a real-life 70's heroin kingpin in the Ridley Scott directed "American Gangster"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama |
| 2007 | Directed (also acted) "The Great Debaters"; a true story based on the Wiley College debate team in the 1930s |
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