Forest Whitaker
Biography
Forest Whitaker is an American actor and filmmaker. He debuted on screen in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and built a reputation for character work in Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and The Color of Money (1986). His first lead came as Charlie Parker in Bird (1988), which brought him the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award and a Golden Globe nomination. He later appeared in The Crying Game (1992), Phenomenon (1996), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), The Great Debaters (2007), The Butler (2013), Arrival (2016), and as Zuri in Black Panther (2018). He took the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006). Whitaker also directed Waiting to Exhale (1995) and Hope Floats (1998), along with First Daughter (2004), and has starred as Bumpy Johnson in Godfather of Harlem since 2019.
65years old
Turns 66 on July 15in 275 days
- Born Longview
- Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22
- Forest Steven Whitaker (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 81
- Career span
- 43 years1982 to 2025
Genres
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Getting ready for a role
Whitaker's first lead role came in 1988, playing jazz alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in Clint Eastwood's Bird. For the part, he took saxophone lessons and shut himself in a loft that held only a bed, a couch and an alto saxophone.
Behind the camera
Forest Whitaker made his directorial debut with Strapped, an HBO film about inner-city gun violence, and won the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival for it.
A first
Forest Whitaker appeared in Robert Altman's film Prêt-à-Porter in 1994. The cast took home the first National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble.
Early training
Forest Whitaker studied opera as a tenor at USC's Thornton School of Music before he was accepted into the university's Drama Conservatory and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 1982.
Languages
Forest Whitaker used an English accent for his role as Jody, a captive British soldier, in Neil Jordan's 1992 film The Crying Game.
Forest Whitaker movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Abel Ferrara directed two of these films, Timothy Linh Bui two. Ray Liotta appears in four of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Ray Liotta's page
Keith David's page
Richard Portnow's page
Jennifer Hudson's page
Nikki Reed's page
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's page
All films by Abel Ferrara
Timothy Linh BuiDirector, 2 films, 2001 to 2009
All films by Timothy Linh Bui
Also three films together1 more actor
- Nicole Ari ParkerHow It Ends (2018), Repentance (2013) and Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Forest Whitaker's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$5.1 billion
55 of the 81 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 81 films: 55 worldwide figure; 8 us gross only; 8 never in cinemas; 1 streaming, short cinema run; 9 figure not found.
- 55Worldwide figure
- 8US gross only
- 8Never in cinemas
- 1Streaming, short cinema run
- 9Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 71% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$1.3B26.6% of the total
- 2$1.1B20.8% of the total
- 3$326M6.4% of the total
- 4$203M4.0% of the total
- 5$197M3.9% of the total
- 6$177M3.5% of the total
- 7$152M3.0% of the total
- 8$152M3.0% of the total
$1.5 billionfrom the other 47 films with a worldwide figure, 29% of the total
Awards
Twelve awards and honors from 1988 to 2022, six of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 2007 | Best Actor | The Last King of Scotland | Won |
| Golden Globes | |||
| 2007 | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | The Last King of Scotland | Won |
| BAFTA | |||
| 2007 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Last King of Scotland | Won |
| Emmy Awards | |||
| Outstanding Television Movie | Won | ||
| SAG Awards | |||
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Won | ||
| Cannes Film Festival | |||
| 1988 | Best Actor | Bird | Won |
| Other honors | |||
| 2022 | Global Citizen Awards | Won | |
| 2021 | Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres | Won | |
| 2017 | Crystal Award | Won | |
| NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award | Won | ||
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor | Won | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.