Washington (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, 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 The New York Times calling him the best 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 in addition to being nominated for 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, Washington began his career in theater, starring in off-Broadway shows. 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* (1989) and his second for the Best Actor category for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (from 1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (from 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (from 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (in 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington also acted in movies like *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (released in 2004), *Inside Man* (released in 2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (from 2014 to 2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (in 2007), and *Fences* (2016). In live theater, he has performed in productions like *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at The Public Theater in New York. His Broadway debut came in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (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 *Fences* by August Wilson (released in 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).