Denzel Washington (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is considered one of the greatest actors of his time, with The New York Times calling him the greatest actor of the 21st century in the year 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 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 started his acting career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. 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* (1984). He won two Oscars, his first for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama *Glory* (from 1989) and his second for the Best Actor category for playing a corrupt cop in the crime thriller *Training Day* (released in 2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (1987), *Malcolm X* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (from 2012), *Fences* (from 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (2021). As a major leading actor, Washington appeared in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (2000), *Man on Fire* (from 2004), *Inside Man* (released in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (from 2002), *The Great Debaters* (in 2007), and *Fences* (from 2016). On stage, he has performed in productions like *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at The Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway 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 father from the working class in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play *Fences* (from 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).