Viola Davis
Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of numerous accolades, Davis is one of the few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT); additionally, she is the sole African-American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting as well as the third person to achieve both statuses. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody's Ruby. She played minor roles in film and television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before earning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in the 2001 Broadway production of August Wilson's King Hedley II. Her film breakthrough came with her role as a troubled mother in the drama Doubt (2008), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Davis won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Rose Maxson in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences.
For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. From 2014 to 2020, she played lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC drama series How to Get Away with Murder, for which she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015. In 2016, Davis reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Amanda Waller in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with Suicide Squad (2016). In 2020, she portrayed Ma Rainey in the biopic Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which she received a fourth Academy Award nomination, becoming the most-Oscar-nominated black actress. Her performances in Widows (2018) and The Woman King (2022) earned her further nominations for the BAFTA Best Actress Award, making her the most-BAFTA-nominated black actress.
Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of a production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017 and became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me earned Davis a Grammy Award in 2023.
Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody's Ruby. She played minor roles in film and television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before earning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in the 2001 Broadway production of August Wilson's King Hedley II. Her film breakthrough came with her role as a troubled mother in the drama Doubt (2008), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Davis won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Rose Maxson in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences.
For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. From 2014 to 2020, she played lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC drama series How to Get Away with Murder, for which she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015. In 2016, Davis reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Amanda Waller in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with Suicide Squad (2016). In 2020, she portrayed Ma Rainey in the biopic Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which she received a fourth Academy Award nomination, becoming the most-Oscar-nominated black actress. Her performances in Widows (2018) and The Woman King (2022) earned her further nominations for the BAFTA Best Actress Award, making her the most-BAFTA-nominated black actress.
Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of a production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017 and became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me earned Davis a Grammy Award in 2023.
Known for
Kung Fu Panda 4
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Silver Dollar Road
Air
Black Adam
The Woman King
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
The First Lady
Peacemaker
The Unforgivable
The Problem With Jon Stewart
The Suicide Squad
C ce soir, le débat
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Dear...
Celebrity IOU
Giving Voice
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
On Broadway
In a Man's World
Emanuel
A Touch of Sugar
Troop Zero
Widows
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
The Last Defense
Night Shift
Fences
Suicide Squad
The Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder
Custody
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Lila & Eve
Hot Ones
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Blackhat
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
How to Get Away with Murder
Get on Up
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Ender's Game
Prisoners
Love, Marilyn
Beautiful Creatures
Won't Back Down
Scandal
Honest Trailers
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Touch of Evil
The Help
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Trust
Eat Pray Love
Knight and Day
Beyond All Boundaries
Law Abiding Citizen
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
State of Play
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Madea Goes to Jail
United States of Tara
Nights in Rodanthe
The Andromeda Strain
Doubt
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Traveler
Disturbia
The Graham Norton Show
The Architect
Brothers and Sisters
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
World Trade Center
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Syriana
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Threshold
Stone Cold
Century City
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Antwone Fisher
Solaris
Far from Heaven
Hack
Without a Trace
E! Live from the Red Carpet
Kate & Leopold
Ocean's Eleven
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
The Shrink Is In
Amy & Isabelle
The Division
Traffic
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
City of Angels
Third Watch
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Judging Amy
Providence
Grace & Glorie
Out of Sight
The Pentagon Wars
The View
The Practice
The Substance of Fire
NYPD Blue
60 Minutes
Tony Awards
The Oscars
Hallmark Hall of Fame