Forest Whitaker
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1961-07-15
Place of Birth
Longview, Texas, USA
Forest Whitaker
Biography
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, producer, director, and activist. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. After making his film debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Whitaker went on to earn a reputation for intensive character study work for films, such as Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Bird (1988), The Crying Game (1992), Phenomenon (1996), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), The Great Debaters (2007), The Butler (2013), Arrival (2016), and Respect (2021). He has also appeared in blockbusters, such as Panic Room (2002), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Saw Gerrera, and Black Panther (2018) as Zuri. For his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the British historical drama film The Last King of Scotland (2006), Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Whitaker made his directorial debut with the television film Strapped (1993), and directed the films Waiting to Exhale (1995), Hope Floats (1998), and First Daughter (2004). Apart from his film career, Whitaker is also known for his humanitarian work and activism. In 2011, he was inducted as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, later receiving a promotion to Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, and serves as the CEO of Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI), a non-profit outreach program.
Also Known For
Blown Away
Jul 01, 1994
Johnny Handsome
Sep 12, 1989
Street Kings
Apr 10, 2008
Smoke
Jun 09, 1995
The Last King of Scotland
Sep 27, 2006
Good Morning, Vietnam
Dec 23, 1987
Phone Booth
Jan 06, 2003
Prêt-à-Porter
Dec 23, 1994
Panic Room
Mar 29, 2002
Body Snatchers
Jun 09, 1993
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Oct 06, 1999
Battlefield Earth
May 12, 2000
Jason's Lyric
May 22, 1994
The Marsh
May 18, 2006
Body Count
Apr 28, 1998
The Crying Game
Sep 02, 1992
Bloodsport
Feb 26, 1988
Vantage Point
Feb 01, 2008
Repo Men
Mar 18, 2010
Bird
Jun 01, 1988
The Color of Money
Oct 17, 1986
Hurricane Season
Feb 09, 2010
Article 99
Mar 13, 1992
Phenomenon
Jul 05, 1996
Species
Jul 07, 1995
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Aug 13, 1982
Our Family Wedding
Mar 12, 2010
The Air I Breathe
Feb 07, 2007
Green Dragon
May 17, 2001
The Great Debaters
Dec 25, 2007
A Rage in Harlem
May 03, 1991
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
Nov 23, 1996
A Little Trip to Heaven
Dec 26, 2005
Downtown
Jan 12, 1990
The Experiment
Jul 15, 2010
American Gun
Sep 15, 2005
My Own Love Song
Apr 07, 2010
Consenting Adults
Oct 16, 1992
Winged Creatures
Jul 08, 2009
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
Mar 02, 2010
Where the Wild Things Are
Oct 16, 2009
Mary
Nov 18, 2005
Deacons for Defense
Apr 05, 2005
Lullaby for Pi
Oct 11, 2010
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Aug 14, 2009
Powder Blue
May 08, 2009
Light It Up
Nov 04, 1999
Even Money
Mar 13, 2007
Diary of a Hitman
Nov 20, 1991
Repentance
Feb 28, 2014
Last Light
Aug 22, 1993
Lush Life
Oct 01, 1993
Feast of All Saints
Nov 11, 2001
Catch.44
Dec 08, 2011
The Fourth Angel
Aug 15, 2001
The Last Stand
Jan 12, 2013
The Enemy Within
Aug 24, 1994
Witness Protection
Dec 11, 1999
Serving Life
Jul 28, 2011
Freelancers
Aug 10, 2012
The Butler
Aug 16, 2013
A Dark Truth
Nov 29, 2012
Out of the Furnace
Nov 12, 2013
Pawn
Apr 23, 2013
Zulu
Dec 04, 2013
Black Nativity
Nov 27, 2013
Two Men in Town
May 07, 2014
Criminal Justice
Sep 08, 1990
Taken 3
Dec 16, 2014
Big George Foreman
Apr 27, 2023
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
Nov 26, 2023
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
Sep 08, 2022
Southpaw
Mar 24, 2015
Making of Phone Booth
Mar 25, 2003
Prophets of Change
Oct 12, 2022
Everyone's Hero
Aug 04, 2006
Arrival
Nov 10, 2016
The Misbehavers
Dec 04, 2004
Dope
Jun 19, 2015
Mysteries of the Unseen World
Nov 01, 2013
Odyssey in Rome
Sep 30, 2005
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Dec 14, 2016
Stakeout
Aug 05, 1987
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
Sep 27, 2000
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Nov 13, 2022
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
May 08, 2005
The Follow
May 24, 2001
Sewing Hope
The King of Kings
Apr 07, 2025
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Aug 03, 2010
Hands of a Stranger
May 10, 1987
I Am You
Dec 12, 2016
Black Panther
Feb 13, 2018
Bank Robber
Dec 03, 1993
Burden
Aug 05, 2018
City of Lies
Sep 06, 2018
Finding Steve McQueen
Mar 15, 2019
Ripple Effect
Jun 21, 2007
Tag: The Assassination Game
Apr 20, 1982
The Forgiven
Mar 09, 2018
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
Mar 23, 2018
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
Jan 01, 2001
A Man's Story
Oct 08, 2011
Platoon
Dec 19, 1986
How It Ends
Jul 13, 2018
Sorry to Bother You
Jul 06, 2018
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
Apr 04, 2017
The Paperboy
Jan 01, 2000
Vision Quest
Feb 15, 1985
First Daughter
Sep 24, 2004
Respect
Aug 12, 2021
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Nov 06, 2020
Shooting 'Panic Room'
Mar 30, 2004
Before the Music Dies
Nov 02, 2006
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
Feb 14, 2017
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
Aug 14, 2001
Mr. Holland's Opus
Dec 29, 1995
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Aug 30, 2020
Rising from Ashes
Aug 02, 2013
Food Chains
Apr 26, 2014
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
Sep 19, 2020
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
Dec 11, 1994
Havoc
Apr 25, 2025
A Fall from Grace
Seaweed Stories
Oct 05, 2024
Four Dogs Playing Poker
Jun 06, 2000
Rose's Baby
Making a Scene | 11 Performances
Nov 25, 2013
The Grand Baby
Nov 02, 1983
Inside the Actors Studio
Aug 14, 1994
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Sep 08, 2003
The Shield
Mar 12, 2002
American Dad!
Feb 06, 2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jan 26, 2003
Today
Jan 14, 1952
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Sep 05, 1988
Diff'rent Strokes
Nov 03, 1978
The View
Aug 11, 1997
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
May 25, 1992
Hill Street Blues
Jan 15, 1981
American Idol
Jun 11, 2002
Criminal Minds
Sep 22, 2005
The Early Show
Nov 01, 1999
Cagney & Lacey
Mar 25, 1982
Star Wars: Go Rogue
Aug 30, 2016
ER
Sep 19, 1994
Where Are They Now?
Jun 07, 1999
The Twilight Zone
Sep 18, 2002
Extrapolations
Mar 16, 2023
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
Feb 16, 2011
Saturday Night Live
Oct 11, 1975
North and South
Nov 03, 1985
Live from E!
Jan 13, 2002
The Daily Show
Jul 22, 1996
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Jan 03, 2005
Amazing Stories
Sep 29, 1985
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Aug 02, 2015
Roots
May 30, 2016
The Hire
Apr 26, 2001
Cannes Festival
May 17, 2022
Empire
Jan 07, 2015
Star Wars Rebels
Oct 13, 2014
Godfather of Harlem
Sep 29, 2019
Emperor of Ocean Park
Jul 14, 2024
Andor
Sep 21, 2022
The Oscars
Mar 19, 1953
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
Sep 09, 2021
My Generation
Oct 05, 2024
By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
Nov 08, 2020
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Sep 12, 2022
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jan 26, 2003