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
Marguerite Johnson
for Marguerite Johnson in Rising in Stillness: The Maya Angelou Story
Suggested by kamsismith
"Rising in Stillness: The Maya Angelou Story" is an extraordinary biopic that chronicles the life of one of the most influential and inspiring figures of the 20th century. Maya Angelou, born in 1928 as Marguerite Annie Johnson, overcame a difficult childhood marked by trauma and racial discrimination to become a celebrated poet, storyteller, and civil rights activist. This powerful film takes us on a journey through Maya's life as she discovers her love for literature and the written word, and navigates the challenges of racism, poverty, and personal trauma. Her experiences as a nightclub singer, dancer, and civil rights activist intersect with her burgeoning career as a writer, leading her to write the groundbreaking autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." As Maya's literary career soars, the movie captures her pivotal friendships with luminaries like Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., showcasing her integral role in the civil rights movement. The film portrays Maya's unyielding determination, her ability to transform pain into poetry, and her unwavering commitment to social justice. "Rising in Stillness: The Maya Angelou Story" is a poignant and compelling tribute to a remarkable woman who inspired generations with her words and her deeds. This film is a must-see for anyone who seeks to be inspired and empowered by the story of a true American icon.
