King Kong Ain’t Got Sh*t On Me: Celebrating Denzel Washington’s 69th Birthday With His Best Performances Throughout His Career

Source:
LUCY
NICHOLSON
/
Getty

One
of
the
greatest
actors
of
all-time
turned
69
today.
To
celebrate
his
legacy,
check
out
a
gallery
of
some
of
Denzel
Washington’s
best
performances
throughout
his
illustrious
career!

Denzel
Hayes
Washington
Jr.
was
born
in Mount
Vernon,
New
York
where
he
was
raised
by
his
mother
Lennis,
who
was
a
beauty
parlor
owner
and
operator
and
father
Denzel
Hayes
Washington
Sr.,
an
ordained
Pentecostal
minister
and
department
store
worker.
At
the
age
of
14,
his
parents
divorced
and
his
mother
sent
him
to
a
private
preparatory
school
(Oakland
Military
Academy) in New
Windsor,
New
York.
Washington
ended
up
attending
Fordham
University
where
he
earned
a BA
in
Drama
and
Journalism.
He
worked
as
creative
arts
director
of
the
overnight
summer
camp
at
Camp
Sloane
YMCA
in Lakeville,
Connecticut
following
a
period
of
indecision
on
which
major
to
study
and
taking
a
semester
off.
After
seeing
him
perform
in
a
staff
talent
show,
his
colleagues
suggested
that
he
try
acting.
He
returned
to
Fordham
that
fall
and
enrolled
at
the
Lincoln
Center
campus
to
study
acting.
Denzel
then
spent
a
year
in
San
Francisco,
California
where
he
attended
graduate
school
at
the American
Conservatory
Theater.
Washington’s
journey
then
took
him
back
to
New
York
City
where
he
would
begin
his
professional
acting
career.

In
1977,
shortly
after
graduating
from
Fordham,
Washington
made
his
screen
acting
debut
in
the
1977
made-for-television
film Wilma which
was
a docudrama about
sprinter Wilma
Rudolph.
His
first
Hollywood
appearance
came
in
1981 film Carbon
Copy.
He
got
a
major
career
break
when
he
starred
as
Dr.
Phillip
Chandler
in NBC’s
television
hospital
drama St.
Elsewhere,
which
ran
from
1982
to
1988.
It
was
extra
special
because
he
was
one
of
only
a
few
African-American
actors
to
appear
on
the
series
for
its
entire
six-year
run.
After
appearing
in
several
television,
motion
picture
and
stage
roles,
he
starred
as
South
African
anti-apartheid
political
activist Stephen
Biko in Richard
Attenborough’s Cry
Freedom,
for
which
he
received
a
nomination
for
the Academy
Award
for
Best
Supporting
Actor.
It
wasn’t
until
two
years
later
though
that
he
won
the
prestigious
award
for
his
portrayal
of
a
defiant,
self-possessed
ex-slave
soldier
in
the
film

Glory.
From
that
point
on,
his
spot
as
one
of
the
elites
in
Hollywood
was
solidified.

Over
the
course
of
his
40
plus
year
career,
Washington
has
seamlessly
delivered
classic
performances
regardless
of
the
role.
Whether
he’s
playing
a
private
in
the
American
Civil
War,
a
high
school
football
coach
attempting
to
integrate
his
team
in
a
new
city
or
an
alcoholic
airline
pilot
who
miraculously
crash-lands
his
plane
after
a
mechanical
failure,
the
two-time
Oscar
winner
(ten-time
nominee)
always
leaves
us
in
awe
of
his
talent,
poise
and
versatility.
Every
single
time
a
Denzel
movie
is
released,
it’s
an
event!
To
give
him
his
flowers
and
to
celebrate
his
special
day,
check
out
a
gallery
of
some
of
Denzel’s
best
performances.
Let
us
know
which
ones
are
your
favorites
and
if
we
forgot
any
of
them!
HAPPY
69TH
GOAT!