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Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, filmmaker, and activist. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Honorary Palme d'Or.
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entertainment · American actor (born 1961) · actor · film producer · film actor · television director · film director · television actor · karateka · voice actor · also Forest Whitaker, Forest Steven Whitaker, Whitaker
Born 15 July 1961 · Q182763
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When I first started acting, it was because of my desire to connect to everyone, to that thing inside each of us, that light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is about believing in that connection; and it
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“Now there are companies trying to create distribution chains, which is one of the main things that holds a lot of black film-makers back - money to make, promote and distribute the film. People are trying to create different equations to make it all happen.”
“When I first started acting, it was because of my desire to connect to everyone, to that thing inside each of us, that light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is about believing in that connection; and it”
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Appeared in the MGM+ series adaptation of Stephen L
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Whitaker portrayed boxing trainer Doc Broadus in Big George Foreman
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Awarded Global Citizen Awards (2022).
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Was awarded the International Peace Honors prize for his philanthropy and humanitarian service, as well as the SDG Vanguard Award by the UN Foundation, for his innovative championing of sustainability and resilience a
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Awarded Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (2021).
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It was announced that he had joined NBA Africa as a minority owner and strategic investor
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Whitaker also received an honorary German Sustainability Award
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USC awarded him the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists
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The company's latest film, Passing, debuted on Netflix
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Whitaker starred as Jeronicus Jangle in the Netflix Christmas musical Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
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Significant produced By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
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Was also among the recipients of the 2019 Kennedy Center Award for the Human Spirit
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And received an Honorary Fellowship from SOAS University of London that same year
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Awarded Crystal Award (2017).
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And 2018, Whitaker had an eleven-episode arc on Empire, which saw him reunited with Lee Daniels after their work together on The Butler
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Whitaker earned the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos
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Whitaker received the Humanitarian Award from the World Childhood Foundation
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Whitaker played Saw Gerrera in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and reprised this role for the Star Wars Rebels animated series
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After a small career slump where he starred in a few straight-to-video films, Whitaker has enjoyed a career resurgence, having played the lead role in Lee Daniels' The Butler, which has become one of his greatest critica
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Whitaker received the Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France's Minister of Culture, in recognition of his work serving those affected by conflicts and violence
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In recognition of his contributions to the values embodied by the UN, he received the United Nations Correspondents Association's Advocate of the Year Award
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Was inducted as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, later receiving a promotion to Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, and is the CEO of Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI), a non-profit outreach progra
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Was given a chieftaincy title in Imo State, Nigeria
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Also received an Honorary Degree from Manhattanville College, where he delivered the commencement address
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Whitaker appeared in three films, first as a business man known only as Happiness, who likes butterflies, in the film The Air I Breathe
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Awarded Academy Award for Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland (2007).
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Won Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for The Last King of Scotland (2007).
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Awarded BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Last King of Scotland (2007).
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Whitaker was the recipient of the 2,335th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion pictures industry at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard
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Received the Cinema for Peace Award for his ongoing advocacy for child soldiers and his work with inner-city youths
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From the Capri Hollywood International Film Festival
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When he joined the cast of FX's police serial The Shield, as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, who was determined to prove that the lead character, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), is a dirty cop
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The Deauville (France) Festival of American Film paid tribute to him
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While also an executive producer on the film; he had previously co-starred with Holmes in Phone Booth in 2002
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Whitaker received an Honorary Doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts
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Whitaker played FBI agent Jules Bernard in the British/Canadian film The Fourth Angel
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“Life is full of choices, and many years ago, I chose to become a vegetarian, and it was one of the best choices I’ve ever made.”
Including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"
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Played the role of a good-natured man in Phenomenon, alongside John Travolta and Robert Duvall, which earned him a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama, and was also nominated for NAAC
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Whitaker married actress Keisha Nash (1972–2023), whom he met on the set of Blown Away
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Directed his first theatrical feature, Waiting to Exhale, which was based on the Terry McMillan novel of the same name
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Gave a "characteristically emotional performance" in Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's Smoke, and appeared in the science-fiction film Species
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Alongside Jada Pinkett Smith and Allen Payne
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– and won the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival
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Awarded Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for Bird (1988).
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Whitaker appeared in the film Bloodsport and had his first lead role starring as jazz alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in Clint Eastwood's Bird
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Appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money and Oliver Stone's Vietnam War drama film Platoon
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Born 1961-07-15.
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In Longview, Texas, the son of Laura Francis (née Smith), a special education teacher, and Forest E
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