By Marisol Nicholson
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer and director. In a career spanning over four decades, Washington has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and two Silver Bears. He was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and in 2020 The New York Times named him the greatest actor of the 21st century. In 2022, Washington received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
After training at the American Conservatory Theater, 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). Washington won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role as an American Civil War soldier in Glory (1989) and for Best Actor for playing a corrupt cop in Training Day (2001). His other Oscar-nominated roles were in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2015), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021).
He established himself as a leading man with starring roles 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), and American Gangster (2007). He starred in The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), and Fences (2015).
Washington made his Broadway debut in Checkmates (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for starring in the Broadway revival of August Wilson‘s play Fences in 2010. He later directed, produced, and starred in the film adaptation in 2016. Washington has since returned to Broadway in the revivals of Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun (2014) and the Eugene O’Neill play The Iceman Cometh (2018).
He was interested in attending Texas Tech University: “I grew up in the Boys Club in Mount Vernon, and we were the Red Raiders. So when I was in high school, I wanted to go to Texas Tech in Lubbock just because they were called the Red Raiders and their uniforms looked like ours.” Instead, he earned a BA in Drama and Journalism from Fordham University in 1977. At Fordham, he played collegiate basketball as a guard under coach P. J. Carlesimo. After a period of indecision on which major to study and taking a semester off, Washington worked as creative arts director of the overnight summer camp at Camp Sloane YMCA in Lakeville, Connecticut. He participated in a staff talent show for the campers and a colleague suggested he try acting.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Woodrow Wilson (28th U.S. president) –
- Stan Lee (comic book writer) –
- Nichelle Nichols (American actress ) –
- Maggie Smith (actress) –
- Denzel Washington (actor) –
- Sienna Miller (actress) –
- Mackenzie Rosman (actress) –
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (actress ) –
Died
- Theodore Dreiser (American writer) –
- Sam Peckinpah (filmmaker) –
- John D. MacDonald (writer) –
- William L. Shirer (journalist) –
- William X. Kienzle (author) –
- Jerry Orbach (actor) –
- Debbie Reynolds (actress) –
Events
- Westminster Abbey in London was consecrated–
- Benjamin Franklin’s paper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, ran an ad for the first issue of Franklin’s own Poor Richard’s Almanack–
- Vice President John Calhoun, having serious disagreements with President Andrew Jackson, resigned from office. He was the first U.S. vice president to do so.–
- Iowa admitted to the Union as the 29th state–
- Second chewing gum patent went to William Semple, a dentist in Mt. Vernon, Ohio–
- H. L. Mencken published A Neglected History bathtub hoax–
- First sudden-death overtime game in NFL, Baltimore Colts vs. N.Y. Giants–
- President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act of 1973 into law. It provided broad protection for threatened species of fish, wildlife, and plants.–
- The Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Nixon–
- Endangered Species Act approved–
- U.S. patent #4,000,000 was issued–
Weather
- Temperatures throughout Iowa hovered near 24 degrees below zero F–
- 83 inches of snow on the ground in Bathurst, New Brunswick–
- A severe snowstorm with periods of near-zero visibility resulted in an incredible 1,000 traffic accidents in Michigan–
- 31.5 inches of snow fell in 24 hours in Victoria, British Columbia–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
