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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor

Won: Silver Bear for Best Actor, Berlin International Film Festival

Won: New York Film Critics Circle Award, Best Actor

▲Nominee: Best Actor, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

▲The actor plays black South African activist Steve Biko in this gripping apartheid-era drama directed by Richard Attenborough and based on real-life events.

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Won: BET Award, Best Actor

Won: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Nominee: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture

▲Nominee: MTV Movie Awards, Best On-Screen Duo

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Based on true events and set during the American Civil War, this movie follows the exploits of an all-African American military unit. Washington portrays Private Silas Tripp.

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Won: Black Reel Award, Best Director

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Won: Academy Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Nominee: Screen Actors Guild, Best Actor

▲Won: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor

Won: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Won: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Won: Silver Bear, Best Actor, Berlin International Film Festival

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An admirable remake of the 1960 Western classic, this new version features Washington as Marshal Sam Chisolm. The film is noted for its ethnically diverse cast.

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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Won: Black Reel Award, Best Actor

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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Nominee: Screen Actors Guild, Best Actor

Won: Black Film Critics Circle Awards (BFCC), Best Actor

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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Won: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

▲In his third film, Washington plays a public relations expert in this Sidney Lumet-directed drama.

▲Set mostly in the rural Deep South, the film explores interracial romance between African Americans and Indian Americans. Washington's character, Demetrius Williams, is a local self-employed carpet cleaner.

▲Spike Lee's epic biographical drama sees Washington in one of his defining roles as Malcolm X.

▲One of the first mainstream Hollywood productions to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia, 'Philadelphia' sees Washington in a supporting role, but a pivotal one as lawyer Joe Miller.

▲This war drama received positive reviews for its depiction of a friendly fire incident, a later military engagement, and the subsequent cover-up of both incidents. Washington plays an investigating officer.

▲This film is the third of four collaborations between the actor and director Spike Lee. This sports drama sees Washington play an ex-convict who's released early in order to persuade his son to take part in a professional basketball tournament.

▲Washington plays Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter, a former boxer wrongly convicted of a triple murder. Based on true events, the film garnered positive reviews.

▲Another critically praised sports drama, this film sees Washington portraying a football coach and his attempt to integrate black and white players into a high school team.

▲A crime thriller of the highest caliber, 'Training Day' provided Washington with a signature role as a corrupt cop mentoring a fellow police officer for one day, with bizarre and tragic results.

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Won: BET Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Black Reel Award, Best Actor

Nominee: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

▲Ridley Scott's gritty crime drama is a fictional take on the life of Harlem drug trafficker Frank Lucas, played by Washington.

▲Washington directs and stars in this real-life tale about a debate coach who attempts to place his team on equal footing with whites in the 1930s.

▲Inspired by a real-life incident, 'Flight' follows the career of an alcoholic airline pilot (Washington), who crash-lands his plane to save all on board. However, an investigation leads to a very different story.

▲Won: Jupiter Award, Best International Actor

Nominee: Black Reel Award, Best Actor

▲A period drama directed, produced, and starring Washington, the plot line follows a working-class African American father trying to raise his family in the 1950s, while distracted by everyday events.

▲Washington's titular character is a defense lawyer at odds with himself as events begin to overtake him. The result is the necessity for extreme action.

▲Won: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

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Won: Academy Award, Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Won: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Nominee: New York Film Critics Circle Awards as Best Supporting Actor

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Nominee: Academy Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Won: Screen Actors Guild, Best Actor

Won: African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), Best Acto

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In 2016, Denzel Washington was recognized with an honorary Golden Globe, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, for "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment."

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Nominee: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture

Nominee: Best Actor, Acapulco Black Film Festival

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Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Actor

Won: BET Award, Best Actor

Nominee: Satellite Award, Best Actor

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Won: Black Entertainment Television (BET), Best Actor

Won: Black Reel Award, Best Actor

Won: NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

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This thriller sees Washington's character, a respected chief of police, framed for murder and under investigation by fellow officers.

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Washington's directorial debut also stars the actor in this biographical drama about American director, screenwriter, and author Antwone Fisher.

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Washington plays Macrinus, a cunning and influential Roman figure whose ambitions and moral conflicts drive him to navigate treacherous alliances, leading to dramatic and fateful decisions.

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Nominee: Golden Globe, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

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Denzel Washington is one of Hollywood's most successful stars, and as he celebrates his 70th birthday, his legacy continues to shine. An actor, director, and producer, he has won over 75 awards out of more than 150 nominations. Major accolades include multiple Golden Globes and Academy Awards. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award. Most recently, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Macrinus in 'Gladiator II' (2024).

Click through this gallery to honor Denzel Washington’s milestone birthday and revisit his most famous roles, along with the awards and nominations he received for them.