Forest Whitaker
15 July, 1961
| 1.88 m
Actor
Producer
Director
Biography
Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film Ostatni król Szkocji (2006), and has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, following in the footsteps of Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, and Jamie Foxx.Whitaker was born on July 15, 1961 in Longview, Texas, to Laura Francis (Smith), a special education teacher, and Forest Steven Whitaker, an insurance salesman. His family moved to South Central Los Angeles in 1965. The athletically-inclined Whitaker initially found his way into college via a football scholarship. Later, however, he transferred to USC where he set his concentration on music and earned two more scholarships training as an operatic tenor. This, in turn, led to another scholarship at Berkeley with a renewed focus on acting and the performing stage.Whitaker made his film debut at the age of 21 in the raucous comedy Beztroskie lata w Ridgemont High (1982) wherein he played, quite naturally, a footballer. He went on to play another sports-oriented student, a wrestler, in his second film Zwariowałem dla ciebie (1985). He gained experience on TV as well with featured spots on such varied shows as Diff'rent Strokes (1978) and Cagney i Lacey (1981), not to mention the TV-movie Civil War epic Północ - Południe (1985) and its sequel. The movie that truly put him on the map was Kolor pieniędzy (1986). His one big scene as a naive-looking pool player who out-hustles Paul Newman's Fast Eddie Felson was pure electricity. This led to more visible roles in the "A" class films Pluton (1986), Zasadzka (1987), and Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), which culminated in his... show more
Movies
Linguist Louise Banks leads a team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors.
A divorced woman and her diabetic daughter take refuge in their newly-purchased house's safe room when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.
Publicist Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle. Unable to leave or receive outside help, Stuart's negotiation with the caller leads to a jaw-dropping climax.
Accused of a ruthless murder he never committed or witnessed, Bryan Mills goes on the run and brings out his particular set of skills to find the true killer and clear his name.
Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.
The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff.
An undercover cop, disillusioned by the death of his wife, is implicated in the murder of an officer and must struggle to clear himself.
As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.
Set in the near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit, it revolves around a man who struggles to make the payments on a heart he has purchased. He must therefore go on the run before said ticker is repossessed.
Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.
An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
It's the year 3000 A.D., and the Earth is lost to the alien race of Psychlos. Humanity is enslaved by these gold-thirsty tyrants, who are unaware that their 'man-animals' are about to ignite the rebellion of a lifetime.
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
A British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.
