Viola Davis
Actor, Producer
August 11, 1965 (60 years)
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ 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, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Featured Videos
Filmography
| 2027 | Children of Blood and Bone · as Mama Agba |
| 2025 | G20 · as President Danielle Sutton |
| 2024 | Creature Commandos · as Amanda Waller (voice) |
| 2024 | Kung Fu Panda 4 · as The Chameleon (voice) |
| 2023 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes · as Dr. Volumnia Gaul |
| 2023 | Air · as Deloris Jordan |
| 2022 | Bonnie · as Carol Barrett |
| 2022 | Black Adam · as Amanda Waller (uncredited) |
| 2022 | The Woman King · as Nanisca |
| 2022 | The First Lady (2022) · as Michelle ObamaOn Plex |
| 2022 | Peacemaker · as Amanda Waller (uncredited) |
| 2021 | The Unforgivable · as Liz Ingram |
| 2021 | The Suicide Squad · as Amanda Waller |
| 2020 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom · as Ma Rainey |
| 2019 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience: 'All in the Family' and 'Good Times' · as Florida Evans |
| 2019 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience · as Florida Evans |
| 2019 | Troop Zero · as Miss Rayleen |
| 2018 | Widows · as Veronica Rawlings |
| 2017 | American Koko · as Narrator |
| 2016 | Fences · as Rose Maxson |
| 2016 | Suicide Squad · as Amanda Waller |
| 2016 | Custody · as Martha Schulman |
| 2015 | Lila & Eve · as Lila WalcottOn Plex |
| 2015 | Blackhat · as Carol Barrett |
| 2014 | How to Get Away with Murder · as Annalise Keating |
| 2014 | The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them · as Professor Lillian FriedmanOn Plex |
| 2014 | Get on Up · as Susie Brown |
| 2013 | The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him · as Professor Lillian Friedman |
| 2013 | The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her · as Professor Lillian Friedman |
| 2013 | Ender's Game · as Major Gwen Anderson |
| 2013 | Prisoners · as Nancy Birch |
| 2013 | Beautiful Creatures · as Amma Treadeau |
| 2012 | Sofia the First · as Helen Hanshaw (voice) |
| 2012 | Won't Back Down · as Nona Alberts |
| 2012 | Scandal (2012) · as Annalise Keating |
| 2011 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close · as Abby Black |
| 2011 | Touch of Evil · as The Vengeful Caretaker |
| 2011 | The Help · as Aibileen Clark |
| 2010 | It's Kind of a Funny Story · as Dr. Eden Minerva |
| 2010 | Trust · as Gail FriedmanOn Plex |
| 2010 | Eat Pray Love · as Delia Shiraz |
| 2010 | Knight and Day · as Cia Director Isabel George |
| 2009 | Chico & Rita · as Cast |
| 2009 | Beyond All Boundaries · as Hortense Johnson |
| 2009 | Law Abiding Citizen · as Mayor April Henry |
| 2009 | State of Play · as Dr. Judith Franklin |
| 2009 | Madea Goes to Jail · as Ellen |
| 2009 | |
| 2008 | Doubt · as Mrs. Miller |
| 2008 | Nights in Rodanthe · as Jean |
| 2008 | The Andromeda Strain · as Dr. Charlene Barton |
| 2007 | Jesse Stone: Sea Change · as Molly Crane |
| 2007 | Traveler · as Agent Jan Marlow |
| 2007 | Disturbia · as Detective Parker |
| 2006 | The Architect · as Tonya Neely |
| 2006 | Brothers & Sisters · as Ellen Snyder |
| 2006 | Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story · as Diane Barrino |
| 2006 | World Trade Center · as Mother In Hospital |
| 2006 | Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise · as Molly Crane |
| 2006 | Jesse Stone: Night Passage · as Officer Molly Crane |
| 2005 | Syriana · as Cia Chairwoman |
| 2005 | Get Rich or Die Tryin' · as Grandma |
| 2005 | |
| 2005 | Jesse Stone: Stone Cold · as Molly Crane |
| 2004 | |
| 2002 | Antwone Fisher · as Eva May |
| 2002 | Far from Heaven · as Sybil |
| 2002 | Solaris · as Gordon |
| 2002 | Hack · as Stevie Morgan |
| 2002 | Without a Trace · as Audrey Williams |
| 2001 | Kate & Leopold · as Policewoman |
| 2001 | Ocean's Eleven · as Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited) |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent · as Terry Randolph |
| 2001 | The Guardian · as Suzanna Clemons' Attorney |
| 2001 | The Shrink Is In · as RobinOn Plex |
| 2001 | Amy & Isabelle · as Dottie |
| 2001 | The Division · as Dr. Georgia Davis |
| 2000 | Traffic · as Social Worker |
| 2000 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation · as Attorney Campbell |
| 2000 | City of Angels · as Lynnette Peeler |
| 1999 | Third Watch · as Margo Rodriguez |
| 1999 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit · as Donna Emmett |
| 1999 | Judging Amy · as Celeste |
| 1999 | Providence · as Dr. Eleanor Weiss |
| 1998 | Grace & Glorie · as Rosemary Allbright |
| 1998 | Out of Sight · as Moselle |
| 1998 | The Pentagon Wars · as Sgt. Fanning |
| 1997 | The Practice · as Aisha Crenshaw |
| 1996 | The Substance of Fire · as Nurse |
| 1994 | New York Undercover · as Mrs. Stapleton |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue · as Woman |
| 1989 | The Simpsons · as Narrator (voice) |
| 1985 | American Masters · as Narrator |
| 1975 | The NFL Today · as Narrator - Before Jackie |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame · as Rosemary Allbright |
| 2025 | |
| 2025 | Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Women in Hollywood · as Executive Producer |
| 2025 | Number One on the Call Sheet · as Executive Producer |
| 2023 | Silver Dollar Road · as Executive Producer |
| 2022 | |
| 2022 | Hungry for Answers · as Executive Producer |
| 2022 | The First Lady (2022) · as Executive ProducerOn Plex |
| 2020 | Giving Voice · as Executive Producer |
| 2019 | Emanuel · as Executive Producer |
| 2019 | |
| 2018 | The Last Defense · as Executive Producer |
| 2017 | American Koko · as Executive Producer |
| 2016 | Custody · as Executive Producer |
| 2015 | Lila & Eve · as Executive ProducerOn Plex |
| 2014 |