Oscar winner Denzel Washington will be named Motion Picture Showman of the Year at the 54th Annual International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) Publicists Awards in recognition of his remarkable career achievements, including producing, directing and starring in Fences, a major contender in this year's Oscar race. The awards will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Friday, February 24.
"Denzel continues to excel as a major creative force in filmmaking while also recognizing the key role that publicity and promotion play in the success of filmmaking," said awards committee chairman Henri Bollinger. "His understanding of what it takes to attract movie audiences supports his exceptional talents as an actor and filmmaker."
ICG National President Steven Poster, ASC, said, "
Denzel Washington brings a unique reality and a dignity to every character he portrays, be they actual or imagined people, good guys or bad. I always look forward to seeing him on screen."
Denzel's unforgettable performances have garnered him two Academy Awards®, three Golden Globes®, and countless other awards.
He received his first Academy Award® for the historical war drama
GLORY (1989) and his second for his portrayal of the corrupt cop in the crime thriller, Training Day (2001). Denzel won a Tony Award® for his performance in Fences, during his return to Broadway in 2010.
Denzel's current project is the critically acclaimed film adaptation of
August Wilson's Fences, released Christmas 2016. In addition to producing and directing the adaptation, Denzel reprises his original Tony Award®-winning role alongside
Viola Davis.
Denzel's professional acting career began in New York, where he performed in theatre productions such as Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and Othello. He rose to fame when he landed the role as Dr. Philip Chandler on the
NBC long-running hit television series, St. Elsewhere. His other television credits include The George McKenna Story, License to Kill, and Wilma.
As Denzel crossed over into the world of film, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of real life figures. He earned his first Oscar® nomination for Cry Freedom (1987), as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. From there, he went on to portray Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992), boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane (1999), football coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans (2000), poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters (2007), and drug kingpin
Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007). A few of his other beloved credits are: Much Ado About Nothing (1993), A Soldier's Story (1984), Crimson Tide (1995), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), and Inside Man (2006).
Denzel's most recent credits include Unstoppable (2010) where he reunited with director Tony Scott for the fifth time, 2 Guns (2013) where he starred alongside
Mark Wahlberg, and The Equalizer (2014) an action thriller film directed by
Antoine Fuqua. In 2016, Denzel teamed up with
Antoine Fuqua again for a remake of The Magnificent Seven, which also starred
Chris Pratt and
Ethan Hawke.
In 2016, he was selected as the recipient for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, cementing his legacy in Hollywood.
Washington is a native of Mt. Vernon, NY, and graduated from Fordham University, where he majored in drama. He spent a year at San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theatre before beginning his professional acting career.
As previously announced, the Publicists Awards Luncheon will also honor
Jeffrey Katzenberg with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ryan Murphy will receive the Television Showmanship Award and Nanci Ryder will be awarded with the President's Award.
ABOUT THE PUBLICISTS OF THE ICG: Entertainment publicists first formed a union in 1937 as the Screen Publicists Guild, later
BECOMING the Publicists Guild. In 2002 the Publicists Guild merged with the International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600). The first Publicists Awards Luncheon was held in 1962 and has since grown to an event attended annually by up to 900 publicists and industry leaders. Many of the greatest actors, directors and executives have accepted the Motion Picture and Television Showmanship Awards and Lifetime Achievement Awards and include
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Clint Eastwood,
Julie Andrews,
Harrison Ford,
Sylvester Stallone,
Carol Burnett,
Kirk Douglas,
Stanley Kramer,
JoAnne Woodward and
Paul Newman,
Bob Hope and
Shonda Rhimes. In addition, the members honor their own through the Maxwell Weinberg Awards for publicity campaigns, the Bob Yeager Award for Community Service and the Les Mason, the greatest honor to be paid to a publicist. The Guild also publishes the Annual ICG Publicists Membership Directory, which is given out at the Annual ICG Publicists Awards.
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS GUILD (ICG): The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) represents more than 7,800 members who work in film, television and commercials as Directors of Photography, Camera Operators, Visual Effects Supervisors, Still Photographers, Camera Assistants, Film Loaders, all members of camera crews and Publicists. The first cinematographers union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn't until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. ICG's ongoing activities include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine.
Photo Credit:
John Russo
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
