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Denzel Washington

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Denzel Washington: Biography

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Birth Name: Denzel Washington Jr.
Birth Place: Mount Vernon, NY
Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 12/28/1954, Capricorn
Profession: Actor; director; producer

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Denzel Washington Fast Facts:

In his sophomore year in college, a professor encouraged him to pursue a career in acting.
In 1978, attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
In April 2005, starred as Brutus in a Broadway production of Julius Caesar.
Has won seven NAACP Image Awards for leading roles and two for supporting roles.
Was the lead actor in such Spike Lee films as Mo' Better Blues, He Got Game, Inside Man and Malcolm X.
Real-life characters he played, besides Malcolm X, include another activist, Steve Biko, as well as educator Melvin B. Tolson, football coach Herman Boone, crime boss Frank Lucas and boxer Rubin Carter.
When Carter learned that Washington would portray him in the film The Hurricane, he joked to USA Today that "the only thing I didn't know till I saw Denzel playing me is how good-looking I am."
When he and Russell Crowe teamed up in the 2007 crime drama American Gangster, the Oscar-winning actors recalled Crowe's audition for the 1995 film Virtuosity, in which Crowe inadvertently spit on Washington. Crowe kidded to Entertainment Weekly that his first thought was "I might as well go home and hang myself now." (He got the part.)
Copped a Tony in 2010 (his first such nomination) for his performance as a sanitation worker in the play Fences. His performance was praised by the Chicago Tribune for conveying "the poignancy of a man denied his shot."

Denzel Washington Relationships:
David Washington - Brother
Denzel Washington Sr. - Father
John David Washington - Son
Katia Washington - Daughter
Lennis 'Lynne' Washington - Mother
Lorice Washington - Sister
Malcolm Washington - Son
Olivia Washington - Daughter
Pauletta Washington - Wife
Denzel Washington Awards:
2001 Emmy: Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Informational) - Nominee
1995 Emmy: Outstanding Informational Special - Nominee
1990 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Winner
1988 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
1993 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
2000 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Winner
2002 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
1992 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
1999 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
2001 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Winner
1987 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Nominee
1989 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Winner
2008 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
2010 Tony: Actor (Play) - Winner
2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Nominee
2001 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
1999 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
2000 Berlin Film Festival: Silver Bear for Best Actor - Winner
College:
Fordham University, New York, NY (BA in Journalism, 1977)