Actor Denzel Washington - 1 screenwriter 2 director 3 producer

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. He has received critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s, including his portrayals of real-life figures, such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin Carter, Melvin B. Tolson, Frank Lucas and Herman Boone.

Washington attended grammar school at Pennington-Grimes Elementary School in Mount Vernon, and in 1968, at the age of 14, he was sent to a private preparatory school, Oakland Military Academy, in New Windsor in New York State, followed by Mainland High School, a public high school in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1970-71.

Denzel on David Letterman Show (Photo/CBS John Paul Filo)

Why Washington was interested in attending Texas Tech University:

I grew up in the Boys Club in Mount Vernon, and we were the Red Raiders. So when I was in high school, I wanted to go to Texas Tech in Lubbock just because they were called the Red Raiders and their uniforms looked like ours."

Washington earned a B.A. in Drama and Journalism from Fordham University in 1977.  At Fordham, he played collegiate basketball.  After participating in a staff talent show for the campers, a colleague suggested he try acting.

Returning to Fordham that fall with a renewed purpose and focus, he enrolled at the Lincoln Center campus to study acting, snagging the title character in both Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, and William Shakespeare's Othello, where he earned rave reviews.

Upon graduation, he was given a scholarship to attend graduate school at the prestigious American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where he stayed for one year before deciding to return to New York to begin a professional acting career.

Denzel & daughter Katia (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his professional acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television movie Wilma. He made his film debut in the 1981 film Carbon Copy.

His big break came when he starred in the popular television hospital drama, St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988. He was one of a few actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run.

In 1987, after appearing in several minor television, film and stage roles, Washington starred as South African Anti-Apartheid political activist Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom, a role for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1989, Washington won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing a defiant, self-possessed ex-slave in the film Glory.

Denzel with Tyrese Gibson (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

That same year, he gave a powerful performance as the conflicted and disillusioned Reuben James, a Caribbean-born British soldier who, despite a distinguished military career abroad, turns to a life of vigilantism and violence upon his return to civilian life in For Queen and Country.

Malcolm X transformed Washington's career, turning him, practically overnight, into one of Hollywood's most respected actors. He turned down several similar roles, such as an offer to play Martin Luther King, Jr., because he wanted to avoid being typecast.

In 1993, he took another risk in his career by playing Joe Miller, the homophobic lawyer of a homosexual man with AIDS in the movie Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks. During the early and mid 1990s, Washington became a renowned Hollywood leading man, starring in several successful thrillers, including The Pelican Brief and Crimson Tide, as well as in comedy Much Ado About Nothing, and The Preacher's Wife.

Denzel & Justin Timberlake (AP Photo/Mark Avery)

After several more film credits throughout the 90's, Washington returned to theater. In 2005, after a 15-year hiatus (he was seen last in the summer of 1990 in the title role of the Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's Richard III) , Washington appeared onstage again in another Shakespeare play as Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar on Broadway. The production's limited run was a consistent sell-out, averaging over 100% attendance capacity nightly.

On May 20, 2007 Washinton was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities from Morehouse College, and previous to that on  May 18, 1991, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Fordham University, for having impressively succeeded in exploring the edge of his multifaceted talent. 

Since The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009), with John Travolta, Washington's latest film projects coming up are that of The Book of Eli with Jennifer Beals (2010) & Unstoppable (2011).

You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib." - Denzel Washington