Viola Davis

Viola Davis

Born August 11, 1965 (Age: 60) St. Matthews, South Carolina, USA

Biography

Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Filmography

No Image

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree

Unknown as Rachel Dupree
Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone

2027 as Mama Agba Age: 61
Kung Fu Panda 4

Kung Fu Panda 4

2024 as The Chameleon (voice) Age: 58
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

2023 as Dr. Volumnia Gaul Age: 58
Air

Air

2023 as Deloris Jordan Age: 57
Black Adam

Black Adam

2022 as Amanda Waller (uncredited) Age: 57
The Woman King

The Woman King

2022 as Nanisca Age: 57
The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad

2021 as Amanda Waller Age: 55
Giving Voice

Giving Voice

2020 as Self Age: 54
Widows

Widows

2018 as Veronica Rawlings Age: 53
Fences

Fences

2016 as Rose Maxson Age: 51
Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad

2016 as Amanda Waller Age: 50
Blackhat

Blackhat

2015 as Carol Barrett Age: 49
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

2014 as Professor Lillian Friedman Age: 49
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her

2014 as Professor Lillian Friedman Age: 49
Get On Up

Get On Up

2014 as Susie Brown Age: 48
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

2014 as Professor Lillian Friedman Age: 48
Ender's Game

Ender's Game

2013 as Major Gwen Anderson Age: 48
Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures

2013 as Amma Treadeau Age: 47
Won't Back Down

Won't Back Down

2012 as Nona Alberts Age: 47
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

2011 as Abby Black Age: 46
The Help

The Help

2011 as Aibileen Clark Age: 45
It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story

2010 as Dr. Eden Minerva Age: 45
Trust

Trust

2010 as Gail Friedman Age: 45
Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love

2010 as Delia Shiraz Age: 45
Knight and Day

Knight and Day

2010 as CIA Director Isabel George Age: 44
Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen

2009 as Mayor April Henry Age: 44
State of Play

State of Play

2009 as Dr. Judith Franklin Age: 43
Madea Goes to Jail

Madea Goes to Jail

2009 as Ellen Age: 43
Doubt

Doubt

2008 as Mrs. Miller Age: 43
Nights in Rodanthe

Nights in Rodanthe

2008 as Jean Age: 43
Disturbia

Disturbia

2007 as Detective Parker Age: 41
World Trade Center

World Trade Center

2006 as Mother in Hospital Age: 40
Syriana

Syriana

2005 as CIA Chairwoman Age: 40
Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Get Rich or Die Tryin'

2005 as Grandma Age: 40
Antwone Fisher

Antwone Fisher

2002 as Eva May Age: 37
Solaris

Solaris

2002 as Gordon Age: 37
Far from Heaven

Far from Heaven

2002 as Sybil Age: 37
Kate & Leopold

Kate & Leopold

2001 as Policewoman Age: 36
Ocean's Eleven

Ocean's Eleven

2001 as Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited) Age: 36
Traffic

Traffic

2000 as Social Worker Age: 35
Out of Sight

Out of Sight

1998 as Moselle Age: 32
No Image

Miss Apprehension and Squirt

1998 as Sharon Hughes Age: 32