Denzel Washington (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor who also works as a producer and director. Recognized for his powerful performances on stage and screen, he is often seen as one of the top actors of his generation, with a declaration from The New York Times naming him the top actor of the 21st century in 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 in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, with roles in off-Broadway productions. He first came to prominence in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (between 1982 and 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (released in 1984). He won two Oscars, 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 police officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (1987), *Malcolm X* (released in 1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (2012), *Fences* (from 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington appeared in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (2000), *Man on Fire* (from 2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (2014–2023). Washington starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (2016). In live theater, he has performed in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at The Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut 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 (2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of the plays *Julius Caesar* (2005), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).