13
Viola Davis
Born · August 11, 1965 (59 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Saint Matthews, South Carolina, USA
Bio
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.
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
0.0
2024
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
7.1
2023
Air
Deloris Jordan
7.3
2023
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
Self
6.9
2022
Giving Voice
Self
6.4
2020
On Broadway
Self (archive footage)
8.7
2019
Fences
Rose Maxson
6.9
2016
Custody
Martha Schulman
7.0
2016
Blackhat
Carol Barrett
5.5
2015
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
Professor Lillian Friedman
6.7
2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Professor Lillian Friedman
6.7
2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Professor Lillian Friedman
6.2
2014
Ender's Game
Major Gwen Anderson
6.6
2013
Prisoners
Nancy Birch
8.1
2013
Won't Back Down
Nona Alberts
6.1
2012
The Help
Aibileen Clark
8.2
2011
Eat Pray Love
Delia Shiraz
6.2
2010
Law Abiding Citizen
Mayor April Henry
7.4
2009
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Self
7.0
2009
Madea Goes to Jail
Ellen
6.5
2009
Doubt
Mrs. Miller
7.2
2008
Nights in Rodanthe
Jean
6.3
2008
Disturbia
Detective Parker
6.7
2007
Solaris
Gordon
5.9
2002
Operation Othello
Narrator
0.0
Kung Fu Panda 4
The Chameleon (voice)
7.1
2024
Black Adam
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
6.9
2022
Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
5.9
2016
Lila & Eve
Lila Walcott
6.1
2015
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
0.0
2015
Get on Up
Susie Brown
6.8
2014
Love, Marilyn
Self
6.6
2013
Beautiful Creatures
Amma Treadeau
6.0
2013
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Abby Black
7.0
2011
Touch of Evil
The Vengeful Caretaker
6.9
2011
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dr. Eden Minerva
7.0
2010
Trust
Gail Friedman
6.6
2010
Knight and Day
CIA Director Isabel George
6.2
2010
State of Play
Dr. Judith Franklin
6.8
2009
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Molly Crane
7.0
2007
The Architect
Tonya Neely
5.9
2006
World Trade Center
Mother in Hospital with Donna
6.1
2006
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Molly Crane
6.9
2006
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Officer Molly Crane
6.9
2006
Syriana
CIA Chairwoman
6.4
2005
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Grandma
6.8
2005
Stone Cold
Molly Crane
6.8
2005
Far from Heaven
Sybil
7.0
2002
The Shrink Is In
Robin
5.0
2001
The Pentagon Wars
Sgt. Fanning
6.8
1998
Two Butterflies
0.0
Amy & Isabelle
Dottie
6.7
2001
I Almost Forgot About You
Dr. Georgia Young
0.0
Antwone Fisher
Eva May
6.9
2002
Kate & Leopold
Policewoman
6.3
2001
Ocean's Eleven
Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
7.4
2001
Traffic
Social Worker
7.1
2000
Out of Sight
Moselle
6.7
1998
The Substance of Fire
Nurse
6.3
1996
G20
Taylor Sutton
0.0
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
Sharon Hughes
0.0
1998
Small Great Things
0.0
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Rachel Dupree
0.0
Creature Commandos
Amanda Waller (voice) · (2 episodes)
7.9
2024
The Woman King
Nanisca
7.7
2022
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self · (2 episodes)
6.4
2022
The First Lady
Michelle Obama · (10 episodes)
6.3
2022
Peacemaker
Amanda Waller (uncredited) · (2 episodes)
8.3
2022
The Unforgivable
Liz Ingram
7.4
2021
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
7.1
2021
The Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
7.5
2021
C ce soir, le débat
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2.0
2021
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey
6.7
2020
Dear...
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
2020
Celebrity IOU
Self · (1 episode)
6.1
2020
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Florida Evans
6.1
2019
A Touch of Sugar
Narrator
0.0
2019
Troop Zero
Miss Rayleen
7.0
2019
Widows
Veronica Rawlings
6.5
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
5.7
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
6.6
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
6.6
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
2015
Hot Ones
Self · (1 episode)
7.4
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · (4 episodes)
4.4
2014
How to Get Away with Murder
Annalise Keating · (90 episodes)
7.9
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (1 episode)
5.8
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
5.8
2014
Scandal
Annalise Keating · (1 episode)
7.2
2012
Honest Trailers
Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage) · (1 episode)
6.4
2012
Beyond All Boundaries
Hortense Johnson
6.5
2009
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
5.0
2009
United States of Tara
(1 episode)
7.1
2009
The Andromeda Strain
Dr. Charlene Barton · (2 episodes)
6.2
2008
Traveler
Agent Jan Marlow · (8 episodes)
6.8
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
7.2
2007
Brothers and Sisters
Ellen Snyder · (1 episode)
7.1
2006
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
Diane Barrino
6.5
2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
0.0
2006
Threshold
(1 episode)
7.0
2005
Century City
(9 episodes)
7.0
2004
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self · (1 episode)
5.5
2003
Hack
Stevie Morgan · (1 episode)
7.9
2002
Without a Trace
Audrey Williams · (1 episode)
7.3
2002
E! Live from the Red Carpet
Self · (1 episode)
3.2
2002
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Sergeant Terry Randolph · (1 episode)
7.6
2001
The Division
(1 episode)
7.0
2001
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Attorney Campbell · (2 episodes)
7.6
2000
City of Angels
Lynnette Peeler · (25 episodes)
9.0
2000
Third Watch
Margo Rodriguez · (1 episode)
7.9
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Donna Emmett · (7 episodes)
7.9
1999
Judging Amy
Celeste · (1 episode)
7.5
1999
Providence
Dr. Eleanor Weiss · (1 episode)
6.5
1999
Grace & Glorie
Rosemary Allbright
6.3
1998
The View
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
4.4
1997
The View
Self · (1 episode)
4.4
1997
The Practice
Aisha Crenshaw · (1 episode)
7.7
1997
NYPD Blue
Woman · (1 episode)
7.0
1993
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self · (1 episode)
6.2
1979
60 Minutes
Self · (1 episode)
6.7
1968
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
5.0
1956
The Oscars
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
1953
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rosemary Allbright · (1 episode)
8.7
1951
Waller
Amanda Waller · (1 episode)
0.0
Father Lefty
(1 episode)
0.0