Age: 60
female
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Viola Davis
Carrie McDonald
for Carrie McDonald in Chasing Rainbows: The Josephine Baker Story
Suggested by kamsismith
"Chasing Rainbows: The Josephine Baker Story" is an exhilarating and poignant biographical film that transports audiences to the roaring 1920s and beyond, chronicling the extraordinary life of the iconic entertainer, Josephine Baker. Set against the backdrop of a racially segregated America and a post-war Europe, the film follows the meteoric rise of Josephine Baker, a young African-American woman from St. Louis, Missouri, who defies all odds to become the toast of Paris and an international sensation. Her journey is one of ambition, resilience, and boundless charisma, as she captivates audiences with her electrifying performances, becoming the embodiment of the Jazz Age. At the heart of the film is Josephine's unwavering commitment to civil rights and equality. Her fervent activism, highlighted by her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and her refusal to perform for segregated audiences, solidifies her status as a symbol of hope and progress. The biopic delves deep into the personal and political struggles Josephine faced, shedding light on her complex relationships, including her marriages and her motherhood journey, all while battling discrimination and prejudice.
