Cast & creator
Denzel Washington
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Grey's Anatomy
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, an Actor Award, two Golden Globes, two Silver Bears and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named Washington the greatest actor of the 21st century. He has also been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2025, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $5.1 billion worldwide. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theatre, acting in Off-Broadway performances. He first came to prominence in the NBC medical drama series St. Elsewhere (1982–1988), and in the war film A Soldier's Story (1984). Washington won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Washington has starred in other notable films, including The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia (both 1993); Crimson Tide, Devil in a Blue Dress (both 1995); He Got Game (1998); Remember the Titans (2000); Man on Fire (2004); Déjà Vu, Inside Man (both 2006); American Gangster (2007); Unstoppable, The Book of Eli (both 2010); The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023), Gladiator II (2024), and Highest 2 Lowest (2025). Washington has also directed the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), Fences (2016), and A Journal for Jordan (2021). On stage, he has acted in The Public Theater productions of Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990). He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play Checkmates (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences (2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (2005) and Othello (2025), Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).
Also known as: Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr., Denzel Hayes Washington, Дэнзэл Вашингтон
110
film credits
43
television credits
134
1944–2028 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (153)
Showing 153 of 153 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Grey's Anatomy
Director
2005
Late Show with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1993
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The View
Self
1997
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self
1988LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest
1988
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self - Guest
1992
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self
1979
Great Performances
Self
1971
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
American Experience
Narrator (voice)
1988
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956Tony Awards
Self - Winner / Presenter
1956Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
St. Elsewhere
Philip Chandler
1982
Wogan
Self
1982ZDF-Mittagsmagazin
Self
1989
Wetten, dass..?
Self
1981
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015The Reichen Show
Self - Guest
2005
The Equalizer
Robert McCall
2014The Equalizer
Producer
2014
The Oscars
Self
1953
The Equalizer 3
Robert McCall
2023The Equalizer 3
Producer
2023
Today
Self
1952
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
Self
2004
The Equalizer 2
Robert McCall
2018The Equalizer 2
Producer
2018
Parkinson
Self - Guest
2004
Gladiator II
Macrinus
2024
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
King Omar (voice)
1995Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Humpty Dumpty / Crooked Man (voice)
1995Goldene Kamera
Self
1984
Number One on the Call Sheet
Self
2025
Training Day
Alonzo
2001
TRL
Self
1998
Circus Halligalli
Self
2013
The Little Things
Joe 'Deke' Deacon
2021
American Gangster
Frank Lucas
2007
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Producer
2020
The Magnificent Seven
Sam Chisolm
2016
The Book of Eli
Eli
2010The Book of Eli
Producer
2010
Man on Fire
John W. Creasy
2004
Highest 2 Lowest
David King
2025
Crimson Tide
Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
1995
Inside Man
Keith Frazier
2006
Unstoppable
Frank Barnes
2010
Remember the Titans
Coach Herman Boone
2000
The Early Show
Self - Guest
1999
Safe House
Tobin Frost
2012Safe House
Executive Producer
2012
Glory
Pvt. Trip
1989
The Pelican Brief
Gray Grantham
1993
Flight
Whip Whitaker
2012
The Bone Collector
Lincoln Rhyme
1999
John Q
John Quincy Archibald
2002
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self - Honoree
1973
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Walter Garber
2009
Fallen
John Hobbes
1998
Déjà Vu
Doug Carlin
2006
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Macbeth
2021
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage)
2024
Fences
Troy Maxson
2016Fences
Director
2016Fences
Producer
2016
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Roman J. Israel
2017Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Producer
2017
The Hurricane
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
1999
2 Guns
Robert 'Bobby' Trench
2013
Philadelphia
Joe Miller
1993
The Siege
Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
1998
Courage Under Fire
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
1996
The Great Debaters
Melvin B. Tolson
2007The Great Debaters
Director
2007
Malcolm X
Malcolm X
1992
Devil in a Blue Dress
Easy Rawlins
1995
A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Peterson
1984
A Journal for Jordan
Director
2021A Journal for Jordan
Producer
2021
Out of Time
Matt Lee Whitlock
2003
The Manchurian Candidate
Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
2004
Much Ado About Nothing
Don Pedro
1993
The Preacher's Wife
Dudley
1996
The Piano Lesson
Producer
2024
Sidney
Self
2022
Ricochet
Nick Styles
1991
Val
Self (archive)
2021
He Got Game
Jake Shuttlesworth
1998
Cry Freedom
Steve Biko
1987
Heart Condition
Napoleon Stone
1990
Virtuosity
Parker Barnes
1995
Mo' Better Blues
Bleek Gilliam
1990
The Mighty Quinn
Xavier Quinn
1989
Flesh & Blood
Kirk
1979
Antwone Fisher
Dr. Jerome Davenport
2002Antwone Fisher
Director
2002Antwone Fisher
Producer
2002
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Self (archive footage)
2020
Flesh & Blood
Kirk
1979
The George McKenna Story
George McKenna
1988
Here Comes the Flood
Carter
Black Panther 3
2028
Mississippi Masala
Demetrius Williams
1991
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
Self (archive footage)
1994
Chasing Trane
John Coltrane (voice)
2017
Power
Arnold Billings
1986Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
Self (archive footage)
2021
Live from Studio Five
Self
2009
Carbon Copy
Roger Porter
1981
For Queen & Country
Reuben
1988
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
1997
A Century of Cinema
Self
1994
Coriolanus
Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
1979
The Making of Gladiator II
Self
2024
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
Self
2003
Whitney, a Look Back
Self (archive footage)
2022
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Self
1988
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act
Self (archive footage)
2022
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
Self
2009
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'
Self
2008
Straight from the Streets
Self
2000
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'
Self (archive)
2004
License to Kill
Martin Sawyer
1986
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
Self
2005
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'
Self
2002
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward
2025
The Making of 'Crimson Tide'
Self
1995
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway
Narrator (voice)
1992Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
Narrator (voice)
1992
Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks
Producer
2000
Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage
self
2026
The Wait
Thanks
2023
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision
Self
2024Untitled Hannibal Film
Hannibal the Great
Untitled Hannibal Film
Producer
Giving Voice
Self
2020
Wilma
Robert Eldridge, age 18
1977
Denzel Washington: American Icon
Self
2024
Denzel Washington: Reel Life
Self
2018
Rabbit Ears - John Henry
Narrator (voice)
1990
NBA at 50
Self - Host
1996American Gangster Special
Self
Rabbit Ears - Anansi
Narrator (voice)
1991