| Dropped out of junior college with a 1.7 GPA. |
| He was the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. |
| Became only the sixth actor to win both leading and supporting acting Oscars. The other five are Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon and Jack Nicholson. |
| Became a father for the 3rd and 4th time at age 36 when his wife Pauletta Washington gave birth to their twins Malcolm Washington and Olivia Washington on April 10, 1991. |
| Became a father for the 2nd time at age 32 when his wife Pauletta Washington gave birth to their daughter Katia Washington on November 27, 1987. |
| Revealed on The Graham Norton Show (2007) that he dislocated his right hand little finger while playing football, so much so that it frequently pops out of joint. In several of his films, this would happen in the middle of a take, so he can frequently be seen fidgeting to conceal or fix it. He has since had the condition surgically corrected. |
| Became a father for the 1st time at age 29 when his wife Pauletta Washington gave birth to their son John David Washington on July 28, 1984. |
| Eva Mendes and Paula Patton have each played his love interest twice - Mendes in Training Day (2001) and Out of Time (2003), and Patton in Deja Vu (2006) and 2 Guns (2013). |
| Won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for "Fences". |
| The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is 11 years, between Training Day (2001) and Flight (2012). |
| Has starred in three remakes: The Manchurian Candidate (2004), The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) and Man on Fire (2004). |
| Has worked twice with Chiwetel Ejiofor. In Inside Man (2006), they played police detectives; in American Gangster (2007), they played criminals. |
| Among his favorite black actors are - Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor - who happen to be British, and both of whom co-starred with Washington in American Gangster (2007). |
| Likes to point out the difference between his father's and his first name: Denzel. Though both are spelled the same, his dad's name is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable - DEN-zel, whereas the actor's name is pronounced - den-ZEL. |
| Lives in Los Angeles, California. |
| Turned down the role that went to George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007). |
| Performed all of his own stunts for the hand to hand fight sequences in the post-apocalyptic action film The Book of Eli (2010). |
| Was considered for the role of Curtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls (2006). However, Jamie Foxx was cast instead. |
| His performance as Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992) is ranked #17 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). |
| Brother-in-law of actress Rita Pearson. |
| As of 2009, Washington and sound engineers Willie D. Burton and Russell Williams II are the only African-Americans to win two Oscars. |
| (November 11, 2008) Attended the star-studded opening of Dubai's lavish Atlantis Palms resort. Guests were welcomed in style with a display of one million fireworks, said to be visible from space. |
| Broke the pinky finger of his right hand during a childhood basketball accident and never had it set correctly, resulting in the finger healing in a crooked position. The finger is still crooked to this day, bent at the bottom knuckle a full 45 degrees outward from his other fingers. |
| Was considered for the role of Detective Ricardo Tubbs on Miami Vice (1984), which went to Philip Michael Thomas. |
| Was the original choice to play the title character in Blade (1998), which went to Wesley Snipes. |
| The offer he regrets turning down the most is Brad Pitt's role in Se7en (1995). |
| The actors he most wants to work with are Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The director he most wants to work with is Martin Scorsese. |
| Named Gene Hackman, Angelina Jolie Pitt and Dakota Fanning as the most talented actors he has ever worked with. |
| Is a huge fan of the television series Monk (2002). He requested Ted Levine to play a role in American Gangster (2007) because he was a fan of the series. He also worked with Tony Shalhoub in The Siege (1998). |
| When Washington won the Best Actor Oscar for Training Day (2001), Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball (2001), and Sidney Poitier won the Honorary Award (2001), 2002 marked the first time in Academy Awards history that three African-Americans so dominated the Oscar ceremonies (2002). |
| In 2006, he donated $1 million to Save Africa's Children. |
| According to Forbes, for each dollar he got paid, his movies averaged $10 of gross income. [December 2007] |
| Has worked with both Fanning sisters. He worked with Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire (2004); he worked with (although did not have any scenes with) Elle Fanning in Deja Vu (2006). |
| He spent months on the beat with Washington Post reporters to prepare for The Pelican Brief (1993). |
| To prepare for his attorney role in Philadelphia (1993), he met with two lawyers who were about to become celebrities in their own right: Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and Carl Douglas. |
| For Courage Under Fire (1996), he trained at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California, where he qualified on the M1A1 tank and the 120mm gun, participated in battle games and listened to audiotapes of tank battles in Desert Storm. |
| Almost every summer he and his family go to Italy on vacation. |
| Son of Lennis Washington, a beautician and former Gospel singer. |
| Received an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia on May 20, 2007. |
| At one point, was to star as Dr. Alex Cross in Kiss the Girls (1997), had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. |
| Voted as America's Favorite Movie Star in the 2006 and 2007 Harris Polls. |
| Good friends with actress Julia Roberts. |
| His daughter, Katia Washington, currently attends Yale University. |
| Turned down the role of Cinque in Amistad (1997), which went to Djimon Hounsou. |
| Turned down the role of Detective David Mills in Se7en (1995), which went to Brad Pitt. |
| Claims his personal favorite performances are his works in Cry Freedom (1987), Glory (1989), Malcolm X (1992) and Training Day (2001). |
| Turned down Se7en (1995). He opted to do another detective thriller that year, Devil in a Blue Dress (1995). |
| Has worked with both Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. Ridley directed him in American Gangster (2007). He has worked with Ridley's brother, Tony, on five films, which are: Crimson Tide (1995), Man on Fire (2004), Deja Vu (2006), The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) and Unstoppable (2010). |
| Has two films on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are: Glory (1989) at #31 and Philadelphia (1993) at #20. |
| Son John David Washington recently signed as a running back with the St. Louis Rams. [May 2006] |
| As of 2006, he is the most Oscar-winning (two) and most nominated (five) black actor/actress in Academy history. |
| Is the second of three children. |
| He and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC). There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time. He was given a tour of one of the Fisher Houses and subsequent to his visit sent them one of the largest donations they've ever received. |
| Though his first theatrical film was a comedy (Carbon Copy (1981)), he has only done three more since. Has mentioned that he's always wanted to do a great one. |
| Has played two soldiers who have suffered traumatic, life-changing experiences while fighting in the 1991 Persian Gulf War: Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling in Courage Under Fire (1996) and Major Ben Marco in The Manchurian Candidate (2004). |
| Is the first African-American actor to receive two Academy Awards. |
| Chosen as People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (1996). |
| Premiere magazine ranked him as #39 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005). |
| Ranked #59 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties |
| Has worn some kind of military uniform in at least six of his films. |
| First studied Biology in hopes of becoming a doctor, then switched to Political Science then to a Journalism/Drama major in college. |
| Cites star-athletes like Jim Brown and Gale Sayers as the role models of his youth. |
| He was at his mother's beauty parlor, when a woman getting her hair done saw him and told someone to get her a piece of paper and she wrote at the top "Prophecy" and then wrote that Denzel would grow up and one day speak to millions. Denzel kept the bit of paper in his wallet. The woman was known as a prophetess in their church and community. |
| Tom Hanks said working with Washington on Philadelphia (1993) was like "going to film school". Hanks said he learned more about acting by watching Denzel than from anyone else. |
| Was awarded the title of "Police Chief for a Day" when he was a member of The Boys and Girls Club of America as a child. The photo was shown during his latest appearance on Live! with Kelly (1988). |
| He and his family are members of the same church as actors Dwayne Winstead, Sy Richardson, Marvin Wright-Bey and Fitz Houston. |
| Cousin is newsman Ukee Washington, who co-anchors the news on the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. |
| Ranked #28 in Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #40 in 2002. |
| Named by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2002). |
| Only the second black actor (after Sidney Poitier) to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Training Day (2001)). Poitier received the honorary Academy Award that same year. |
| Is a spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, having been a member of the Boys Club once himself. |
| His father was a Pentecostal minister; his mother a beautician and former gospel singer. They divorced when he was 14. |
| Met his wife Pauletta Washington in 1977 when both had small roles in the television movie Wilma (1977) (she was billed as Pauletta Pearson), the story of runner Wilma Rudolph. They wed five years later. |
| Supports charities such as the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and the Gathering Place (an AIDS hospice). |
| Named one of E!'s "top 20 entertainers of 2001". |
| Frequent collaborator of Spike Lee. |
| In the early 1980s, years before he portrayed Malcolm X in the Spike Lee film Malcolm X (1992), Washington portrayed Malcolm in the off-Broadway production of "When the Chickens Came Home to Roost", at the Henry Street Theatre in New York City. |
| Denzel is named after his father who was in turn named after the doctor, Doctor Denzel, who had delivered him. |
| According to a 1995 Premiere magazine article, Denzel confronted director Quentin Tarantino when he visited the set of Crimson Tide (1995). Quentin had done an uncredited rewrite of the script. Denzel lambasted Tarantino about his use of racial slurs in his films. Tarantino got embarrassed and wanted to move the conversation to a more private area. Denzel said, "No, if we're going to discuss it, let's discuss it now." Denzel later said he still felt that Quentin was "a fine artist". |
| Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (1990). |
| In a Newsweek cover story about the biological basis of the perception of beauty, he was used as a key example in a scientific explanation why he is considered an extremely handsome man. |
| 1996 Harvard Foundation Award |
| Received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Fordham University in New York City. |
| To prepare for his role as boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter in The Hurricane (1999), Washington worked out for a year with Los Angeles boxing trainer Terry Claybon. |
| Son, Malcolm, was named in honor of Malcolm X. |
| Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#77) (1995). |