Washington (born on December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Famed for his dramatic roles in film and theater, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times calling him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Over his career he has received several accolades, 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 (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, acting in performances off-Broadway. He gained early fame in the NBC medical drama series *St. Elsewhere* (1982–1988), 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 soldier during the Civil War in the war drama *Glory* (released in 1989) and his second for the role of Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer 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* (2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (released in 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington starred in movies including *Mo' Better Blues* (released in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (from 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (released in 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (from 2014 to 2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (2016). In live theater, he has acted in performances of *Coriolanus* (1979) and *The Tragedy of Richard III* (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. His Broadway debut came in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (released in 1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disheartened blue-collar father in the Broadway revival of *Fences* by August Wilson (from 2010). He has also starred in the Broadway revivals of the plays *Julius Caesar* (2005), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).