Kerry Washington

Infobox actor


caption = Washington at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 2007 Breakthrough Awards
birthdate = birth date and age|1977|1|31
birthplace = The Bronx, New York, United States

Kerry Washington (born January 31, 1977)cite web |url=http://www.movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-biography/kerry-washington/|title=Kerry Washington:Biography on MSN|author=Jason Buchanan|accessdate=2008-07-18 |date=2008 |publisher=MSN ] is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles' wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film "Ray" (2004), as Kay Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," and Alicia Masters in the 2005 live action "Fantastic Four" film and its 2007 sequel, "". She has also starred in the critically acclaimed independent films "Our Song" and "The Dead Girl".

Early life

Washington was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, the daughter of a successful real estate broker father and a professor and educational consultant mother. [http://www.filmreference.com/film/35/Kerry-Washington.html Kerry Washington Biography (1971) ] ] She performed in children's musical theater with TADA! Youth Theater in 1985, when she was 15 years old. She attended Spence School in Manhattan, graduating in 1994; fellow alumni include Gwyneth Paltrow and Emmy Rossum. Washington went on to earn a theater degree in 1998 from The George Washington University.

Personal life

Washington was engaged to actor David Moscow from October 2004 to March 2007. [Washington indicated she was dating again during her appearance on the March 16, 2007 episode of "The View".]

As a sort of souvenir/memento, she usually tries to keep something from every character that she plays whether it is an item of wardrobe or a piece of furniture from the house that the character lived in. [ [http://www.craveonline.com/filmtv/articles/04647599/we_love_kerry_washington.html We Love Kerry Washington] ]

She is a supporter of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy. [ [http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/cheryljewell/CGxkG] ]

Career

Washington made her screen debut in the ABC telefilm "Magical Make-Over" (1994). She was in the cast of the 1996 PBS sketch comedy-style educational series "Standard Deviants", and she appeared in the short "3D" and the feature film "Our Song" in 2000. She went on to appear in several movies, including "Save the Last Dance" (2001), "The Human Stain" (2003), Spike Lee's "She Hate Me" (2004), "Ray" (2004), "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (2005), "Little Man", & "I Think I Love My Wife" (2007), and, in a departure, an accented, period role as a wife of 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the UK historical drama "The Last King of Scotland" (2006). Washington has also appeared in the recurring role of Chelina Hall on the ABC television series "Boston Legal", and in several episodes of the A&E cable-TV series "100 Centre Street".

She is the new spokeperson for L'Oréal starring in commercials and ads alongside fellow actresses Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria Parker, and model Doutzen Kroes.

She also co-directed and appeared in the music video for hip-hop artist Common's song, "I Want You", the fourth single off of his album "Finding Forever".

In addition, Kerry serves as the narrator of the critically-acclaimed 2008 documentary about the New Orleans-based teenage TBC Brass Band entitled [http://www.fromthemouthpieceonback.com "From the Mouthpiece on Back"] , which also lists The Roots as one of the executive producers of the movie.

Filmography

Awards/nominations

*BET Awards
**2007- Best Actress "The Last King of Scotland": "Nominated"

*Black Reel Awards
**2007- Best Supporting Actress "The Last King of Scotland": "Nominated"
**2005- Best Actress, Drama "Ray": "Nominated"
**2003- Best Actress, Network/Cable "Lift" : "Nominated"
**2002- Best Independent Actor "Lift": "Nominated"
**2002- Best Supporting Actress Theatrical, "Save the Last Dance": "Nominated"
*Image Awards
**2007- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture "The Last King of Scotland": "Nominated"
**2006- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Boston Legal: "Nominated"
**2005- Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture "Ray": "Winner"

*Independent Spirit Awards
**2002- Best Female Lead "Lift": "Nominated"

*Satellite Awards
**2005- Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical "Ray": "Nominated"

*Screen Actors Guild Awards
**2005- Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture "Ray": "Nominated"

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0913488|name=Kerry Washington