Viola davis biography

Viola Davis is an American producer and actress of stage, screen, and television. Davis was born August 11, 1965, in St. Matthews, South Carolina. She is the daughter of Mary Alice Davis, a maid, factory worker, homemaker, and civil rights activist. Her father, Dan Davis, is horse trainer. Davis is the second youngest of six children. The Davis family would later move to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where Viola attended Central Falls High School. After graduating from high school, she attended Rhode Island College, earning a degree in theater in 1988. Davis would continue her studies at the Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York City for four years (1989–1993).

Davis made her Broadway debut in August Wilson’s tragic comedy Seven Guitars, in 1996, in which she played the character Vera, a woman who takes back her boyfriend who had wronged her. A few years later, Davis worked with Wilson again in his 2001 drama King Hedley II, for which she won her first Tony Award and Drama Desk Award. Davis also won another Drama Desk Award in 2004 for the off-Broadway production of Intimate Apparel

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by Lynn Nottage.

Davis’s first films included Out of Sight, Solaris, Traffic, and Syriana. She later appeared in Kate & Leopold and Antwon Fisher. Davis’s television credits have included Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Traveler, and Century City

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. In 2008 Davis played Mrs. Miller in the film adaptation of the Broadway play Doubt, which also starred Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. Davis was nominated for several awards for her performance in the film, including a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
On June 30, 2009, Davis was inducted into The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.

On June 13, 2010, Davis won her second Tony Award for her r

American actress and dancer (born 1965)

For other people named Viola Davis, see Viola Davis (disambiguation).

Viola Davis (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,^[7&#

Early life

Both a celebrated stage performer, she's had roles on and off Broadway, and screen actress movie roles include Traffic, Solaris and Doubt - Viola was born in South Carolina in August 1965, moving with her underprivileged family as a youngster to Rhode Island in New England.

There, as a teenager, her talent earned her a scholarship at a performing arts school and she went on to study theatre at college, before spending four years at New York's prestigious school for the performing arts Juilliard.

Breakthrough

Her first big stage role was 1996 tragi-comedy Seven Guitars, which brought her rave reviews and a Tony nod. Other stage highlights include Everybody's Ruby and King Hedley II. It was her performance as Tonya, a 35-year-old mother fighting for her right to an abortion, in the latter which eventually secured her a best actress Tony in 2001.

Viola has a close working relationship with director Steven Soderbergh, appearing in his films Out Of Sight, Solaris both starring George Clooney and Traffic. She's also often recognised for her role in 2002 drama Antwone Fisher, Denzel Washington's directorial debut. Her breakthrough role came in 2008, when she landed the part of Mrs Miller in Doubt alongside Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. "So many African-American actresses were lined up to play that role because it's considered to be one of the greatest roles for an African-American woman in the last couple of years," she explained at the time.

Although brief she's only on screen for 11 minutes her portrayal of the mother of a young boy suspected of being molested, earned her both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Continued success

Viola continued to impress audiences the world over, and she had another breakout role in The Help which saw her winning two SAG Awards and getting her secon

1965-present

Who Is Viola Davis?

Viola Davis grew up in Rhode Island, where she began acting — first in high school, and then at Rhode Island College. After attending the Juilliard School of Performing Arts, Davis made her Broadway debut in 1996 in Seven Guitars. She has won Tony Awards for her performances in King Hedley II (2001) and a revival of August Wilson's Fences (2010), which co-starred Denzel Washington. Her film work includes Doubt (2008), for which she received an Oscar nomination, The Help (2011), Ender's Game (2013) and Get on Up (2014). In 2015 she became the first African American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the television series How to Get Away with Murder. She reprised her role playing Rose Maxson in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences, directed by and co-starring Washington, for which she received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2017.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Viola Davis
BORN: August 11, 1965
BIRTHPLACE: Saint Matthews, South Carolina
SPOUSE: Julius Tennon (2003-present)
CHILD: Genesis
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Early Life and Career

Viola Davis was born August 11, 1965 in Saint Matthews, South Carolina. Growing up poor in Rhode Island, Davis found an oasis from her family's financial woes in watching movies. Her father worked at racetracks, often as a horse groomer. She discovered a love of acting early in high school. At Rhode Island College, Davis earned her degree in theater in 1988. From there, she soon continued her studies at the famed Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York City.

Before long, Davis began to establish a name for herself in the New York theater world. She made her Broadway debut in August Wilson's tragic comedy Seven Guitars in 1996. In the play, Davis starred as Vera, a woman who takes back the boyfriend who wronged her. She again worked with Wilson on his 2001 drama King Hedley II, for which she won her fir