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 2020. Throughout his career, Washington has garnered numerous awards, including two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a SAG Award, and a Tony Award in addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He received the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He first came to prominence in the medical drama *St. Elsewhere* on NBC (1982–1988), and in the war film *A Soldier's Story* (1984). He won two Oscars, his first for the Best Supporting Actor category for playing a Union soldier in the war drama *Glory* (from 1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt cop in the crime thriller *Training Day* (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in *Cry Freedom* (released in 1987), *Malcolm X* (1992), *The Hurricane* (1999), *Flight* (2012), *Fences* (released in 2016), *Roman J. Israel, Esq.* (from 2017), and *The Tragedy of Macbeth* (2021). A prominent leading man, Washington appeared in films such as *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), *Mississippi Masala* (in 1991), *Philadelphia* (in 1993), *Courage Under Fire* (from 1996), *Remember the Titans* (in 2000), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Inside Man* (2006), *American Gangster* (from 2007), and the *Equalizer* films (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films *Antwone Fisher* (in 2002), *The Great Debaters* (from 2007), and *Fences* (in 2016). In live theater, Washington has appeared in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at New York’s Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play *Checkmates* (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 August Wilson's play *Fences* (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).