Washington (born December 28, 1954) is a celebrated American actor, producer, and filmmaker. Famed for his dramatic roles in film and theater, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with a declaration from The New York Times naming him the greatest actor of the 21st century in the year 2020. He has won several prestigious awards over his career, including two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a SAG Award, and a Tony Award in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award. He has been awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, 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 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* (1984). He won two Academy Awards, his first for Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama *Glory* (released in 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* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (from 1992), *The Hurricane* (1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington starred in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (released in 1991), *Philadelphia* (1993), *Courage Under Fire* (1996), *Remember the Titans* (from 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and the *Equalizer* trilogy (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (2007), and *Fences* (2016). On stage, he has performed in productions of both 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* (released in 1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in the Play category for his role as a disillusioned father from the working class in the Broadway revival of the play *Fences* by August Wilson (released in 2010). He has also appeared in the Broadway revivals of Shakespeare's *Julius Caesar* (2005), Hansberry's *A Raisin in the Sun* (2014), and O'Neill's *The Iceman Cometh* (2018).