“Hello, Denzel” has become a greeting for the epitome of sexy, smooth-natured manhood – in honor of actor Denzel Washington. On Sept. 17, fans of the 60-year-old star will be greeted with insightful stories and anecdotes about his work on stage and on screen for “An Evening with Denzel Washington” – the kick-off to the 2015-2016 season at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California. The public can register for the free livestream online HERE! The event will be at 7:30pm (PST)
The two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe winner and winner of a Tony Award – was one of five artists named as artistic advisors for the Wallis season. The event, now sold-out and set to be streamed lived, is the first in a series of “Arts & Ideas: Conversations at The Wallis” and will feature Washington in conversation with “Notorious Ph.D” Todd Boyd.
The Am I Black Enough For You? author will have a spectrum of topics from which to choose. Noted for this pioneering work on media, race, cinema, Hiphop culture and sports, Dr. Boyd is professor of cinema and media studies at USC School of Cinematic Arts and the Katherine and Frank Price endowed chair for the university’s Study of Race and Popular Culture. His course “Race, Class and Gender in American Film” has been listed as one of the Top 10 classes at USC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXkpMm3aJdM
Last year, he also motivated young aspiring actors during his 2014 stint in the Kenny Leon-directed A Raisin in the Sun to pursue goals not just dreams and to have discipline and consistency.
The evening with Washington at The Wallis will demonstrate just how “sexy” his career his been since his Hollywood start in the 1981 Carbon Copy. The Fordham University graduate, who majored in drama and journalism, has acted in more than 54 films and portrayed several real-life personalities, including: drug boss Frank Lucas (American Gangster, 2007); poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson (The Great Debaters, 2007); football coach Herman Boone (Remember The Titans, 2000); boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Hurricane, 1999); Muslim minister and activist Malcolm X (Malcolm X, 1992); and South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko (Cry Freedom, 1987).
His slave-soldier role in the 1989 drama Glory earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, while he took home a Best Actor award as a corrupt cop in the 2001 Training Day. Washington became the second African American to win the Best Actor category, following Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, 1964).
Washington is set to direct the film version of August Wilson’s Fences in which he starred on Broadway opposite Viola Davis during 2010. His other stage appearances have been in Julius Caesar (2005); Public Theater’s Richard III (1990); and an Off-Broadway Negro Ensemble Company production of Charles Fuller’s A Solider’s Play (1981). For the latter, he won a 1982 Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for his role “Private First Class Melvin Peterson.”
Basically, Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of all time. If there is any doubt, comedians and “Denzealots” W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery host a podcast via Wolfpop called… “Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of all Time Period.” Since the first episode – “Getting into the Denzelishness” – in November 2014, the show has the mission to prove that statement while featuring guests, “Denzel News” and review his films. All Wolfpop shows are available for free listening and download.
