Editing Denzel Washington (section)

=== 1976–1989: Early roles and rise to prominence ===
Washington spent the summer of 1976 in [[St. Mary's City, Maryland]], in [[summer stock theater]] performing ''Wings of the Morning'',<ref name="msa.maryland.gov">{{cite magazine|url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000293/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_293.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727190722/http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000293/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_293.pdf |archive-date=July 27, 2014 |url-status=live|title=Matthias da Sousa: Colonial Maryland's Black, Jewish Assemblyman|first=Susan Rosenfeld|last=Falb|magazine=Maryland Historical Magazine|volume=73|issue=4|date=December 1978}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smcm.edu/archives/documents/StMarysWhenDidTimeline.pdf|title=St. Mary's: A When-Did Timeline|website=St. Mary's Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221145632/http://www.smcm.edu/archives/documents/StMarysWhenDidTimeline.pdf |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |page=30|first1=Janet Butler|last1=Haugaard|first2=Susan G.|last2=Wilkinson|first3=Julia A.|last3=King}}</ref> the Maryland State play, which was written for him by incorporating an African-American character/narrator based loosely on the historical figure from early colonial Maryland, [[Mathias de Sousa]].<ref name="msa.maryland.gov"/>

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his screen acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television film ''Wilma'' which was a [[docudrama]] about sprinter [[Wilma Rudolph]], and made his first Hollywood appearance in the 1981 film ''[[Carbon Copy (film)|Carbon Copy]]''. He shared a 1982 Distinguished Ensemble Performance [[Obie Award]] for playing Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the [[Off-Broadway]] [[Negro Ensemble Company]] production ''[[A Soldier's Play]]'' which premiered November 20, 1981.<ref>[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=1438 ''A Soldier's Play''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050106134119/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=1438 |date=January 6, 2005 }}, Lortel Archives</ref> [[File:Denzel Washington.jpg|thumb|Washington at the [[62nd Academy Awards]] (1990), at which he won [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] for the film ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'']]

A major career break came when he starred as Dr. Phillip Chandler in [[NBC]]'s television hospital drama ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', which ran from 1982 to 1988. He was one of only a few African-American actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run. He also appeared in several television, motion picture and stage roles, such as the films ''[[A Soldier's Story]]'' (1984), ''[[The George McKenna Story|Hard Lessons]]'' (1986) and ''[[Power (1986 film)|Power]]'' (1986). In 1987, he starred as South African anti-apartheid political activist [[Stephen Biko]] in [[Richard Attenborough]]'s ''[[Cry Freedom]]'', for which he received a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]].

In 1989, Washington won the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for his portrayal of a defiant, self-possessed ex-slave soldier in the film ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]''. That same year, he appeared in the film ''[[The Mighty Quinn (film)|The Mighty Quinn]]''; and in ''[[For Queen and Country]]'', where he played the conflicted and disillusioned Reuben James, a British soldier who, despite a distinguished military career, returns to a civilian life where racism and inner-city life lead to vigilantism and violence.