Washington (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is often seen as one of the top 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. Over his career he has received several accolades, including an Academy Award, Golden Globes, a SAG, and a Tony Award along with nominations in two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He received the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award (2019), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After studying at the American Conservatory Theater, he started his acting career in theater, with roles in off-Broadway productions. He first came to prominence in the NBC drama *St. Elsewhere* (between 1982 and 1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (released in 1984). He won two Academy Awards, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing a soldier during the Civil War in the war drama *Glory* (from 1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller *Training Day* (in 2001). He was nominated for an Oscar for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (in 1999), *Flight* (released in 2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (from 2021). As a major leading actor, Washington starred in movies including *Mo' Better Blues* (in 1990), *Mississippi Masala* (in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (from 2004), *Inside Man* (in 2006), *American Gangster* (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (released from 2014 to 2023). Washington starred in and directed the films *Antwone Fisher* (from 2002), *The Great Debaters* (in 2007), and *Fences* (from 2016). On stage, he has acted in productions like *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* (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned father from the working class in the Broadway revival of *Fences* by August Wilson (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).