Hollywood star Denzel Washington will be celebrating his 57th birthday today.

Denzil Washington was born in Mount Vernon, near New York City, on 28th December 1954 to  Lennis "Lynne", a beauty parlor-owner Reverend Denzel H. Washington, Sr.

Richard Attenborough roped in Washington to play an anti-apartheid activist in ‘Cry Freedom’ in 1987. His performance won a Best Supporting Actor Nomination.

It was his role as a run-away slave in ‘Glory’ that made Denzil Washington an A-list Hollywood actor.

Along with director Spike Lee, Denzel has worken in  three films, including the epic ‘Malcolm X’ .The movie was critically acclaimed, with his portrayal of the title character landing him a host of accolades including Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards for best actor.

Denzel Washington has worked in a number of critically acclaimed films such as ‘The Pelican Brief’, ‘Philadelphia’, and ‘Crimson Tide’ . He followed these with others including ‘Courage Under Fire’ , ‘He Got Game’ and the ‘The Bone Collector’ .

Washington’s portrayal of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in biographical film ‘The Hurricane’  earned him more recognition, as yet another Academy Award nomination for best actor .He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the film.

‘American Gangster’ saw Washington team up with Russell Crowe to play Frank Lucas, a real-life gangster.

The film earned him further accolades and was followed by ‘The Great Debaters’ which he also directed, ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ and ‘The Book of Eli’ and ‘Unstoppable’.

FridayMoviez wishes Denzel Washington a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!