Age: 71
male
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Over his career, he has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theatre, Washington began his career in theatre, acting in performances off-Broadway. He first came to prominence in the NBC medical drama series St. Elsewhere (1982–1988) and in the war film A Soldier's Story (1984). He won two Academy Awards, his first for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). A prominent leading man, Washington also acted in Mo' Better Blues (1990), Mississippi Masala (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Courage Under Fire (1996), Remember the Titans (2000), Man on Fire (2004), Inside Man (2006), American Gangster (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), and Fences (2016). On stage, he has acted in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at the Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play Checkmates (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences (2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (2005), Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).
Denzel Washington
Lenny Smalls
for Lenny Smalls in Mice and Men
Suggested by twelvenooblordx71
"Mice and Men" is a story set during the Great Depression in California, focusing on George Milton, a migrant field worker with PTSD from World War I. He meets a group of characters at Tyler Ranch, including Candy, Bill Curley, and Anthony "Slim" Romero. George befriends Lenny Smalls, a mentally disabled black man with a dream of becoming an actor. However, tensions escalate when Bill's wife, Lisa, flirts with both George and Lenny, leading to tragedy. Lenny accidentally kills his puppy, leading to confusion and anger. Lisa's attempts to seduce Lenny trigger a fire in the barn, leading to George's death. In a desperate attempt to protect Lenny, George is shot by Bill, prompting Lenny to push Bill into the flames. As George dies, Lenny embraces him, reflecting on their shared dreams. Years later, Lenny returns from World War II, still haunted by his past, finding solace in memories of George and the enduring impact of their friendship.
