Viola Davis

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Female

Birthday 1965-08-11 (59 years old)

Place of Birth Saint Matthews, South Carolina, USA

Also Known As 바이올라 데이비스, ヴィオラ・デイヴィス, ვიოლა დევისი, 薇拉·戴維絲, Вайола Дейвіс

Viola Davis

Biography

Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of numerous accolades, Davis is one of the few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT); additionally, she is the sole African-American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting as well as the third person to achieve both statuses. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century. Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody's Ruby. She played minor roles in film and television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before earning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in the 2001 Broadway production of August Wilson's King Hedley II. Her film breakthrough came with her role as a troubled mother in the drama Doubt (2008), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Davis won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Rose Maxson in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences. For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. From 2014 to 2020, she played lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC drama series How to Get Away with Murder, for which she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015. In 2016, Davis reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Amanda Waller in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with Suicide Squad (2016). In 2020, she portrayed Ma Rainey in the biopic Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which she received a fourth Academy Award nomination, becoming the most-Oscar-nominated black actress. Her performances in Widows (2018) and The Woman King (2022) earned her further nominations for the BAFTA Best Actress Award, making her the most-BAFTA-nominated black actress. Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of a production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017 and became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me earned Davis a Grammy Award in 2023.

Known For

Actor

Operation Othello

as Narrator

I Almost Forgot About You

as Dr. Georgia Young

G20

as Taylor Sutton

Waller

as Amanda Waller

2024
Kung Fu Panda 4

as The Chameleon (voice)

2024
Creature Commandos

as Amanda Waller (voice)

2023
Air

as Deloris Jordan

2022
Black Adam

as Amanda Waller (uncredited)

2022
The Woman King

as Nanisca

2022
The First Lady

as Michelle Obama

2022
Peacemaker

as Amanda Waller (uncredited)

2021
The Unforgivable

as Liz Ingram

2021
The Suicide Squad

as Amanda Waller

2021
The Problem with Jon Stewart

as Self (archive footage)

2021
C ce soir, le débat

as Self - Guest

2020
2020
Giving Voice

as Self

2020
Dear...

as Self

2020
2019
On Broadway

as Self (archive footage)

2019
A Touch of Sugar

as Narrator

2019
Troop Zero

as Miss Rayleen

2018
Widows

as Veronica Rawlings

2016
Fences

as Rose Maxson

2016
Suicide Squad

as Amanda Waller

2016
Custody

as Martha Schulman

2015
Lila & Eve

as Lila Walcott

2015
Blackhat

as Carol Barrett

2015
Hot Ones

as Self

2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her

as Professor Lillian Friedman

2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

as Professor Lillian Friedman

2014
Get on Up

as Susie Brown

2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

as Professor Lillian Friedman

2014
How to Get Away with Murder

as Annalise Keating

2013
Ender's Game

as Major Gwen Anderson

2013
Prisoners

as Nancy Birch

2013
2013
Beautiful Creatures

as Amma Treadeau

2012
Won't Back Down

as Nona Alberts

2012
Scandal

as Annalise Keating

2012
Honest Trailers

as Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage)

2011
Touch of Evil

as The Vengeful Caretaker

2011
The Help

as Aibileen Clark

2010
It's Kind of a Funny Story

as Dr. Eden Minerva

2010
Trust

as Gail Friedman

2010
Eat Pray Love

as Delia Shiraz

2010
Knight and Day

as CIA Director Isabel George

2009
Beyond All Boundaries

as Hortense Johnson

2009
Law Abiding Citizen

as Mayor April Henry

2009
State of Play

as Dr. Judith Franklin

2009
2008
Doubt

as Mrs. Miller

2008
2008
The Andromeda Strain

as Dr. Charlene Barton

2007
2007
Disturbia

as Detective Parker

2007
Traveler

as Agent Jan Marlow

2006
The Architect

as Tonya Neely

2006
World Trade Center

as Mother in Hospital with Donna

2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays

as Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")

2006
Jesse Stone: Night Passage

as Officer Molly Crane

2006
Brothers and Sisters

as Ellen Snyder

2005
Syriana

as CIA Chairwoman

2005
2005
Stone Cold

as Molly Crane

2003
2002
Antwone Fisher

as Eva May

2002
Solaris

as Gordon

2002
2002
Hack

as Stevie Morgan

2002
Without a Trace

as Audrey Williams

2001
Kate & Leopold

as Policewoman

2001
Ocean's Eleven

as Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)

2001
2001
Amy & Isabelle

as Dottie

2001
Law & Order: Criminal Intent

as Sergeant Terry Randolph

2000
Traffic

as Social Worker

2000
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

as Attorney Campbell

2000
City of Angels

as Lynnette Peeler

1999
Third Watch

as Margo Rodriguez

1999
Judging Amy

as Celeste

1999
Providence

as Dr. Eleanor Weiss

1998
Grace & Glorie

as Rosemary Allbright

1998
Out of Sight

as Moselle

1998
The Pentagon Wars

as Sgt. Fanning

1998
1997
The View

as Self - Guest

1997
The View

as Self

1997
The Practice

as Aisha Crenshaw

1993
NYPD Blue

as Woman

1968
60 Minutes

as Self

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Presenter

1953
The Oscars

as Self

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Rosemary Allbright

Producer

Waller

as Executive Producer

Operation Othello

as Executive Producer

G20

as Producer

2023
Silver Dollar Road

as Executive Producer

2022
The Woman King

as Producer

2022
The First Lady

as Executive Producer

2019
Troop Zero

as Producer

2019
Emanuel

as Executive Producer

2019
In a Man's World

as Executive Producer

2018
The Last Defense

as Executive Producer

2017
Night Shift

as Executive Producer

Creator

2019
In a Man's World

as Creator