Viola Davis

intro
- August 11, 1965 - St. Matthews, South Carolina / she currently lives in California
- American actress and producer, and one of the most influential people in the world
- She was the 18th person in the history to achieve an EGOT (Emmy = television, Grammy = music,
Oscar = film and Tony = theatre) additionally, she is the sole African-American to achieve the
Triple Crown of Acting (Academy Award + Emmy Award + Tony Award), as well as the third
person to achieve both statuses.
Early life and education
- She grew up in poverty, she overcame her many adversities
- her father was a horse groom, and her mother took on domestic and factory jobs (poor
education)
- Soon after she was born her family moved to Rhode Island, into a building infested with rats,
they had economic problems and often suffered from hunger
they frequently went without electricity, gas, hot water or a phone. No money and the freezing
cold. She has been victim of sexual abuse
- Her mother was an activist during the Civil Rights Movement and when she was 2 she was taken
to prison with her mother after she was arrested during a civil rights protest
- She graduated from Central Falls High School
- In high school she earned a scholarship in order to study theatre at Rhode Island college
- She wanted to attend this acting school due to inspiration from female actresses such as Cicely
Tyson, who she later started a movie with (HTGAWM!)
Career
Early work
- In 1996 she made her Broadway debut in “Seven guitars” (a play) and her screen debut in “The
substance of fire”, then she played other smaller roles
- In 2001 she won her first Tony Award for King Hedley II (a play)
- in 2002 she played in Antwone Fisher
Major success
- In 2008 she won an Academy Award nomination for Doubt
- in 2010 she won a 2nd Tony for Fences
- in 2011 she received a critical acclaim for her role in The Help, which told the stories of African
American women in the early 60s
- in 2015 she won an Emmy for the leading role in How to get away with murder (huge success, 6
seasons)
- In 2016 she won an Academy award for the movie adaptation of Fences, for which she won an
Oscar
- In 2023 she won a Grammy for her audiobook recording of her memoir “Finding Me”, in the
category of Best-Spoken Word Album
Activism
- She has become an advocate for social justice and equality for women of color in Hollywood
- she has used her platform many times as a voice for the African American community, which has
helped America develop a multicultural perspective
- She has also been an advocate against sexual assault and has spoken in many interviews of her
own experience with the subject
Personal life
- Now she’s married with the actor Julius Tennon, since June 2003
- In 2011 they adopted a little girl called Genesis