Forest Whitaker 1961 64
Forest Whitaker 1961 64
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.
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From Longview, Texas, USA
1.86
Popularity150
Credits6.5
Rating48.5M
Budget202M
RevenueActing
Primarily150 Credits
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Credit 150
2025 Rosetta Producer
2025 Sewing Hope as Narrator (voice)
2025 To Live and Die and Live Producer
2025 Lucky Lu Executive Producer
2025 Havoc as Lawrence Beaumont
2025 The King of Kings as Peter (voice)
2024 Transplant Producer
2024 Seaweed Stories as Narrator (voice)
2024 Fancy Dance Executive Producer
2023 to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour as Ghost Dog (archive footage)
2023 Big George Foreman as Doc Broadus
2022 Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend as Self (archive footage)
2022 Prophets of Change as Narrator
2022 Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look as Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
2022 For the Sake of Peace Producer
2021 Passing Producer
2021 Respect as C. L. Franklin
2020 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey as Jeronicus Jangle
2020 Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times as Self
2020 Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King as Self
2020 Burden as Reverend Kennedy
2020 A Fall from Grace
2019 Godfather of Harlem as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson Executive Producer
2019 Devil's Pie: D'Angelo Producer
2019 A Kid from Coney Island Executive Producer
2019 Finding Steve McQueen as Howard Lambert
2018 City of Lies as Jack Jackson
2018 How It Ends as Tom
2018 Sorry to Bother You as First Equisapien / Demarius Producer
2018 Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace as Narrator (voice)
2018 The Forgiven as Desmond Tutu
2018 Black Panther as Zuri
2017 The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' as Self
2017 Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival' as Self
2017 Roxanne Roxanne Producer
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Saw Gerrera
2016 I Am You as Narrator (voice)
2016 Arrival as Colonel Weber
2015 Songs My Brothers Taught Me Producer
2015 Dope as The Narrator (voice) Producer
2015 Southpaw as Titus 'Tick' Wills
2014 Taken 3 as Inspector Frank Dotzler
2014 Two Men in Town as William Garnett
2014 Food Chains
2014 Repentance as Angel
2013 Zulu as Ali Sokhela
2013 Black Nativity as Reverend Cornell Cobbs
2013 Making a Scene as Man
2013 The Making of 'Making a Scene' as Self
2013 Out of the Furnace as Chief Wesley Barnes
2013 Mysteries of the Unseen World as Narrator
2013 The Butler as Cecil Gaines
2013 Rising from Ashes as Narrator Executive Producer
2013 Fruitvale Station Producer
2013 Pawn as Will
2013 The Last Stand as Agent John Bannister
2012 A Dark Truth as Francisco Francis
2012 Freelancers as Dennis Larue
2011 Catch.44 as Ronny
2011 A Man's Story as Self
2011 Serving Life as Narrator (voice) Executive Producer
2011 Monte Carlo Executive Producer
2010 Lullaby for Pi as George
2010 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift as (archive footage)
2010 The Experiment as Barris
2010 My Own Love Song as Joey
2010 Repo Men as Jake
2010 Our Family Wedding as Brad Boyd
2010 Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life as Lion
2009 Hurricane Season as Al Collins
2009 Where the Wild Things Are as Ira (voice)
2009 Crips and Bloods: Made in America as Narrator
2009 Winged Creatures as Charlie Archenault
2009 Kassim the Dream Producer
2009 Powder Blue as Charlie Producer
2008 Street Kings as Captain Jack Wander
2008 Mon Clown as Self (archive footage)
2008 Vantage Point as Howard Lewis
2007 The Great Debaters as Dr. James Farmer Sr.
2007 Ripple Effect as Philip Executive Producer
2007 Even Money as Clyde Snow
2007 The Air I Breathe as Happiness
2006 Before the Music Dies as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006 Everyone's Hero as Lonnie Brewster (voice)
2006 The Marsh as Geoffrey Hunt
2006 The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin
2005 A Little Trip to Heaven as Abe Holt
2005 Mary as Ted Younger
2005 Odyssey in Rome
2005 American Gun as Carter Executive Producer
2005 Jiminy Glick in Lalawood as Forest Whitaker
2005 Deacons for Defense as Marcus Clay
2004 The Misbehavers as Self
2004 First Daughter as Narrator (voice) Director, Executive Producer
2004 Shooting 'Panic Room' as Self
2003 Chasing Papi Producer
2003 Phone Booth as Captain Ramey
2003 Making of Phone Booth as Self
2002 Door to Door Co-Executive Producer
2002 Panic Room as Burnham
2001 Feast of All Saints as Daguerreotypist Picard
2001 The Fourth Angel as Agent Jules Bernard
2001 Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
2001 The Follow as The Employer
2001 Green Dragon as Addie Executive Producer
2001 A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon' as Self
2000 Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows as Self
2000 Four Dogs Playing Poker as Mr. Ellington
2000 Battlefield Earth as Ker
2000 The Paperboy as Narrator
1999 Witness Protection as Steven Beck
1999 Light It Up as Officer Dante Jackson
1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai as Ghost Dog
1998 Hope Floats Director, Executive Music Producer
1998 Body Count as Crane
1996 Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault as Mr. Rucker
1996 Phenomenon as Nate Pope
1995 Mr. Holland's Opus as Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)
1995 Waiting to Exhale Director
1995 Species as Dan Smithson, Empath
1995 Smoke as Cyrus Cole
1994 Prêt-à-Porter as Cy Bianco
1994 Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso as Self
1994 Jason's Lyric as Maddog
1994 The Enemy Within as Col. MacKenzie Casey
1994 Blown Away as Anthony Franklin
1993 Bank Robber as Officer Battle
1993 Lush Life as Buddy Chester
1993 Last Light as Fred Whitmore
1993 Strapped Director
1993 Body Snatchers as Major Collins
1992 Consenting Adults as David Duttonville
1992 The Crying Game as Jody
1992 Article 99 as Dr. Sid Handleman
1991 Diary of a Hitman as Dekker
1991 A Rage in Harlem as Jackson Co-Producer
1990 Criminal Justice as Jessie Williams
1990 Downtown as Dennis Curren
1989 Johnny Handsome as Dr. Steven Fisher
1988 Bird as Charlie 'Bird' Parker
1988 Bloodsport as Rawlins
1987 Good Morning, Vietnam as Edward Garlick
1987 Stakeout as Det. Jack Pismo
1987 Hands of a Stranger as Sergeant Delaney
1986 Platoon as Big Harold
1986 The Color of Money as Amos
1986 A Little Off Mark Thanks
1985 Vision Quest as Balldozer
1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High as Charles Jefferson
1982 Tag: The Assassination Game as Gowdy's Bodyguard