The talent and appeal of Denzel Washington
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-talent-and-appeal-of-denzel-washington
Denzel Washington has given his adoring fans over 30 years
of outstanding entertainment. No doubt, his fan will enjoy many more.
Mr. Washington was born on
December 28, 1954, in Mt. Vernon to Lynne and Reverend Denzel Washington, Sr.
As a boy, Denzel was an active member of the Boys Club in Mount Vernon.
After graduating from high school, Denzel Washington earned
a BA in Drama and Journalism from Fordham
University, in 1977.
While attending Fordham, he played collegiate basketball.
Taking a year off from college, Denzel worked as a counselor at the Camp Sloane
YMCA in Lakeville CT,
an overnight summer camp.
Bit by the acting bug after receiving good reviews while
performing in a talent show at the camp, Denzel Washington decided to return to
Fordham. He enrolled at the Lincoln
Center campus, studied
acting, and played the title role in The Emperor Jones, by Eugene O'Neill, and
Othello, by William Shakespeare, which earned him rave reviews.
After graduating from Fordham, Denzel earned a scholarship
to attend the prestigious American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, CA.
He attended for one year before returning to New York to pursue a professional acting
career.
Doing summer stock, and landing a role in a
made-for-television movie, entitled Wilma, as well as a role in the film,
Carbon Copy, Denzel Washington, as they say, hit the big time.
Playing one of only a few actors who remained on the series,
St. Elsewhere, during its entire six-year run, he was well on his way to
becoming one of Hollywood's
biggest leading men, and one of its most endeared actor.
Denzel Washington played Dr. Phillip Chandler, a
sympathetic, caring, and soft-spoken doctor who truly cared about his patients.
When faced with prejudice, or with having to follow hospital policy over
patient care, he stood up for what he believed in, and never backed down. He
was a breath of fresh air and a doctor we all wished we had.
Receiving an Oscar for his role, in the feature film Glory,
became the first of numerous awards, well deserved and humbly received by
Denzel. A completely different character than the one most fans saw him as on
St. Elsewhere, he invoked emotions and feelings with his performance.
The film was set in the time of the Civil War, and while
watching Denzel Washington, one realizes they are convinced he came from that
time in our country's history. He did the most amazing job and fans of Glory
are thrilled to see that he was going to go on to bigger things and I would
have the chance to see him for decades to come. Turned out, they were correct.
Although he played many roles that deserved an Oscar nod, as well as Emmys for
his portrayal of one of St. Elsewhere's favorite doctors on television, fans
were most disappointed with the oversight of his role in the movie, Philadelphia.
Tom Hanks took the Best Actor award for his role in that
movie, alongside Denzel Washington, who deserved one as well. Tom Hanks' role
was certainly one of the best many have ever seen him portray, but many also
believe that Denzel's character perfectly depicted the way most people viewed
those with AIDS back in the early 1990's.
In that role, Washington
started out as an ambulance-chasing lawyer, who advertised his services on TV,
and who held certain views about gay people, and AIDS victims in general. By
the end of the film, he became a man who was able to look past the disease and
the stigma associated with it, and truly cared about his client as a person who
needed his help, and not merely a gay person with AIDS.
For that role, his actions, facial expressions, and body
language along with the words he spoke, perfectly depicted the reactions of
most people back then that did not understand and were afraid of the disease,
called AIDS. He convinced anyone who saw the movie that if a man like him could
do it, then so could all of us.
You cannot talk about Denzel Washington without mentioning
his Oscar-nominated role in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. People, who grew up during
the decade of the mid-sixties to mid-seventies, did not understand the
significance of those who changed the world during that time. For most who
watched this film, Denzel Washington was Malcolm X. I remember sitting there
watching and when I asked questions about it I could not help but think I was
watching a documentary that showed Malcolm X's life, and the role he played in
the Civil Rights Movement. An outstanding performance and another oversight for
the Oscar win, Denzel deserved 10 thumbs up for that one.
Another character that is a fan favorite from Denzel
Washington movies was the one in the film, Ricochet. Washington played a cop who arrested a
maniac who broke out of prison and was determined to destroy the life of the
man who put him in there. He maliciously set a plan in motion to make the
public, and his family, believe that he committed crimes, cheated on his wife,
and the escaped convict almost got away with it, but Washington's character outsmarted him in the
end, and won.
You watch in amazement as he plays this man in law
enforcement, trying to clear his name and convince those who cared about him
that he was innocent. More often than not, people say that Denzel Washington
portrays someone in such a way that we believe that is exactly how someone
would act in that situation. He is so convincing in this role, that the
audience felt helpless along with him. Fans cheered at the end when the truth
came out and figured that this man would do things differently from now so that
never happens again.
That is the epitome of a genius of an actor, to convince the
audience that were they are watching is real. Even in his latest film, The Book
of Eli, where he takes us into in a future where the humans destroy the world,
as we know it. He plays a man on a mission, determined to achieve his goal at
any cost. He is just so unbelievably 'believable' in every role he plays.
Going from a doctor on television, to a man of the future
out to save the world from itself, Denzel Washington is the most versatile and
talented actors around. What makes him even more appealing to his fans than his
enormous talent is the grace and humility he carried with him from the
beginning of his career to the present. Success has not changed him as a person
and that is rare in the entertainment business.
Now only has he given us all of this, he also gives back to
those who need it most. He praises the Boys and Girls Clubs of America; he
gives to charities, and is involved in many organizations that help others.
It is no wonder he is a favorite among millions, given his
talent and appeal, along with his charitable and good-hearted nature. Fans
delight in honoring Denzel Washington and look forward to many more years of
watching him to do what he does best.