Early years

Washington was born into a religious family, with a preacher for a father, and a beauty shop owner for a mother.  He has a great passion for acting and started it at the age of 7.

He was also academically gifted and when he went to boarding school at age 14, after his parents divorced, he worked hard and got a scholarship into Fordham university. He dropped out of the University once, but went back and pursued a B.A in drama and Journalism and graduated in 1977.

He later on joined the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where he perfected his acting skills, which put him in a better position to play the different roles he has had in different films.

A life in film

Washington has featured in great films since his first one Carbon Copy (1981), some of which include Training day (2001), Equalizer 1(2014), among many other great action, social justice and drama films. Such as his role in the film called Glory (1989), in which he played the role of a free slave fighting in the civil war against the confederate army.

Throughout his acting career, Denzel, has won several awards for the different roles he has played, including His role as Malcom X, in 1992, and Rubin carter in 1999. His performance in the film Training day (2001) won him an Oscar award for best actor, which became the second time that an African American actor had won such in history.  In 2012, Washington starred in Flight (2012), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Washington is greatly praised and recognised for his contribution to film and has made many more films that have received nominations and awards. Today, Washington is married with four adult children, and still a successful actor to this day, and spends his time acting, producing films, and encouraging young people, to pursue their passion and dreams. In fact Washington helped Chadwick Boseman (the starring lead in the Black Panther movie) to study the art of acting.