Washington (born on December 28, 1954) is an American actor who also works as a producer and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is often seen as one of the top actors of his generation, with The New York Times calling him the top actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. He has won several prestigious awards over his career, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award along with nominations in two Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, 2019 AFI Life Achievement Award, and the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, he started his acting career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He gained early fame in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (from 1982 to 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (in 1984). He has two Academy Awards to his name, his first for Supporting Actor for playing a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (released in 1989) and his second for the Best Actor category for playing a corrupt cop in the crime thriller *Training Day* (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (1999), *Flight* (from 2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). A renowned leading man, Washington also acted in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (released in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (1991), *Philadelphia* (1993), *Courage Under Fire* (1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (released in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (from 2014 to 2023). Washington both starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (from 2007), and *Fences* (2016). In live theater, Washington has appeared in performances of *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at The Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (in 1988). He received a 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* (2010). He has also appeared in the Broadway revivals of the plays *Julius Caesar* (2005), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).