Washington (born on December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Famed for his dramatic roles in film and theater, he is considered one of the greatest actors of his time, with The New York Times declaring 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. He received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award (2019), and the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Following his training at the American Conservatory Theater, he launched his career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He gained early fame in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (between 1982 and 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (1984). He has two Academy Awards to his name, his first for Supporting Actor for playing a soldier during the Civil War in the war drama *Glory* (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt law enforcement officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (from 2012), *Fences* (released in 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* (released in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (in 1996), *Remember the Titans* (2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (2002), *The Great Debaters* (from 2007), and *Fences* (2016). In theater, he has performed in productions like *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. His first appearance on Broadway in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (released in 1988). He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor in the Play category for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play *Fences* (from 2010). He has also appeared 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).