Viola Davis is an American actress and producer who has appeared in film, television, and on stage.[1][2][3] She received her equity card with her stage debut in 1988 with August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle play Joe Turner's Come and Gone production of Trinity Repertory Company.[4] After graduating from Juilliard School in 1993, Davis went on to perform several roles on stage in the 1990s,[5][6] earning Theater World Award for her role in Seven Guitars (1996).[7] In the same year, Davis guest-starred in the procedural drama series NYPD Blue,[8] and made her film debut with a brief one-day role alongside Timothy Hutton in The Substance of Fire.[9] In 1998, she appeared in Richard Benjamin's television movie The Pentagon Wars,[10] and Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight,[11] before returning to the stage with an Obie Award winning titular performance in Off-Broadway Everybody's Ruby (1999).[12][13]
Davis established herself as a leading actress of Broadway in the 2000s.[14] She starred in her first recurring role in the 2000 medical drama City of Angels,[8] before winning Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as a wife of ex-con in King Hedley II (2001), the ninth play of Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle.[15] She received further acclaim for her role as a black seamstress in Intimate Apparel (2004) that won her the Drama Desk Award.[16] Four years later, a supporting role in the period drama Doubt (2008) proved to be a breakthrough for Davis and she received Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nominations for it.[17][18] Davis starred opposite Denzel Washington as a dutiful yet strong minded wife Rose Maxson,[19] in a revival of Wilson's play Fences (2010), that earned her Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.[20] The same year she played Julia Roberts' best friend in romantic-comedy Eat Pray Love.[21]
In 2011, Davis's role in an ensemble drama as a housemaid in The Help earned her Best Actress Oscar nomination, among other accolades.[22] Her performances in school drama Won't Back Down (2012),[23] thriller Prisoners (2013),[24] and biopic Get on Up (2014),[25] added further acclaim to her career. Davis became the first black woman to win Emmy Award for Best Actress,[26] for her role as criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating in television series How to Get Away with Murder (2014).[27] In 2015, she starred and served as an executive producer in vigilante thriller Lila & Eve,[28] and courtroom drama Custody the following year,[29] both films received a mixed reception overall.[30] She appeared as an antagonist Amanda Waller in superhero film Suicide Squad (2016),[31][32] her biggest commercial success till date.[33][34] In the same year, she and Washington reprised their role in the film-adaption of Fences,[35] for which Davis received Best Supporting Actress honors at the BAFTAs, SAG Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Academy Awards.[36] Following her Oscar win, she became the first black actor to win Triple Crown of Acting.[37][38] Davis co-founded the JuVee Productions with her husband Julius Tennon in 2012.[39][40]
- ^ "Viola Davis". Biography. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Wallace, Amy (September 12, 2014). "Viola Davis as You've Never Seen Her Before: Leading Lady!". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis is one of the most enthralling actresses of this or any generation". August 8, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Cue & A Revisited: 'How I Got My Equity Card'; Over 100 Actors Respond - Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
- ^ "EMMYS 2017: How Tony, Emmy, and Oscar Winner Viola Davis Went From Juilliard Grad to Groundbreaking Actor - Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Blickley, Leigh (February 26, 2016). "Viola Davis On Her Humble Beginnings And Her Fight To Diversify Hollywood". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Oscar Countdown! Best Actress Hopeful Viola Davis' Top Five Stage Roles". Broadway.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ a b "The stunning transformation of Viola Davis". TheList.com. February 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ "How I Got My SAG-AFTRA Card". TV Insider. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "CIMSEC's "Pentagon Wars" Screening with Jamie Malanowski". Center for International Maritime Security. August 4, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Merry, Stephanie. "Viola Davis is next in line to Meryl Streep's Hollywood throne". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
- ^ "Everybody's Ruby, w/ Phylicia Rashad & Viola Davis, Begins at Public Feb. 23-March 28 - Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Off-Broadway Highest Honor. 1999 Award Winners". Village Voice. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
- ^ "12 Celebs Who Were Broadway Stars Before TV/Film Careers". Essence.com. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
- ^ "2001 Tony Award: Featured Actress in a Play, Viola Davis, King Hedley II | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis to star in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Intimate Apparel". New York Theater Guide. October 19, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ "From abject poverty to Oscar winner: how Fences star Viola Davis took on Hollywood, and won - in pictures". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Rosen, Lisa (January 23, 2009). "Viola Davis, supporting actress for 'Doubt'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Dell, Alexa. "The Character of Rose Maxson in August Wilsons".
- ^ BWW News Desk. "2010 Tony Awards: Viola Davis Wins 'Best Leading Actress in a Play'". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis circles 'Eat, Pray, Love'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "The 84th Academy Awards (2012) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- ^ Scott, A. O. (September 27, 2012). "'Won't Back Down,' With Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Prisoner Review". Collider. September 19, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "NAACP Image Awards 2015: The Complete List of Nominations". Entertainment Tonight. December 8, 2015. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ^ "Emmys: Viola Davis Becomes First Black Lead Actress Winner". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis Wins Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series". The New York Times. September 20, 2015. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "'Lila & Eve': Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez join forces". The Seattle Times. July 16, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis adds executive producer to long list of talents". NY Daily News. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Travers, Ben (March 5, 2017). "'Custody' Review: Viola Davis Can't Save This Wildly Messy Lifetime Movie". IndieWire. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Bahr, Lindsey. "How Viola Davis shaped her powerful 'Suicide Squad' role". Daily Herald. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ "Watch Viola Davis Lay Down the Law in the New Suicide Squad Trailer". Time. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Mendelson, Scott. "'Suicide Squad': 4 Reasons Its Box Office Blowout Is Good News". Forbes. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ McNary, Dave (August 18, 2016). "Box Office: 'Suicide Squad' Battles to $500 Million Worldwide". Variety. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Anderson, Tre'vell (December 22, 2016). "Viola Davis, queen of all she surveys, on returning to 'Fences' six years later". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Viola Davis wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Fences". The Independent. February 27, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Zak, Dan. "Only 22 people had ever accomplished this feat. Now, Viola Davis joins the club". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ Karen Mizoguchi. "SAG Awards 2017: Viola Davis Becomes First African American Actress to Score 5 Wins". People.com. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ Rock, Lucy (September 24, 2017). "'The voice of the voiceless': how Viola Davis and Julius Tennon are changing the face of Hollywood". the Guardian. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ Report, Electronic Urban (March 13, 2017). "Viola Davis and Hubby Seek $250,000,000 to Expand JuVee Productions Globally | EURweb". EURweb. Retrieved May 7, 2018.