Forest Whitaker

63, from Longview, Texas, USA

Artwork for Black PantherImage of 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.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Forest Whitaker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Timeline

2025Future projects

2024Aged 63

  • Poster for Seaweed Stories

    Narrator

  • Poster for Fancy Dance

    Executive Producer

  • Poster for Transplant

    Producer

2023Aged 62

  • Poster for Big George Foreman

    Doc Broadus

  • Poster for to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour

    Ghost Dog (archive footage)

  • Poster for To Live and Die and Live

    Producer

2022Aged 61

  • Poster for Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look

    Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)

  • Poster for Prophets of Change

    Narrator

  • Poster for Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend

    Self (archive footage)

  • Poster for For the Sake of Peace

    Producer

2021Aged 60

  • Poster for Respect

    C. L. Franklin

  • Poster for Passing

    Producer

2020Aged 59

  • Poster for Burden

    Reverend Kennedy

  • Poster for Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

    Self

  • Poster for Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times

    Self

  • Poster for Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

    Jeronicus Jangle

2019Aged 58

  • Poster for Finding Steve McQueen

    Howard Lambert

  • Poster for A Kid from Coney Island

    Executive Producer

  • Poster for Devil's Pie: D'Angelo

    Producer

2018Aged 57

  • Poster for Black Panther

    Zuri

  • Poster for The Forgiven

    Desmond Tutu

  • Poster for Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Sorry to Bother You

    First Equisapien / Demarius

  • Poster for How It Ends

    Tom

  • Poster for City of Lies

    Jack Jackson

2017Aged 56

  • Poster for Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'

    Self

  • Poster for The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'

    Self

  • Poster for Roxanne Roxanne

    Producer

2016Aged 55

  • Poster for Arrival

    Colonel Weber

  • I Am You

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

    Saw Gerrera

2015Aged 54

  • Poster for Southpaw

    Titus 'Tick' Wills

  • Poster for Dope

    The Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

    Producer

2014Aged 53

  • Poster for Repentance

    Angel

  • Poster for Food Chains

    (Unknown)

  • Poster for Two Men in Town

    William Garnett

  • Poster for Taken 3

    Inspector Frank Dotzler

2013Aged 52

  • Poster for The Last Stand

    Agent John Bannister

  • Poster for Pawn

    Will

  • Poster for Rising from Ashes

    Narrator

  • Poster for The Butler

    Cecil Gaines

  • Poster for Mysteries of the Unseen World

    Narrator

  • Poster for Out of the Furnace

    Chief Wesley Barnes

  • Poster for Making a Scene

    Man

  • Poster for The Making of 'Making a Scene'

    Self

  • Poster for Black Nativity

    Reverend Cornell Cobbs

  • Poster for Zulu

    Ali Sokhela

  • Poster for Fruitvale Station

    Producer

2012Aged 51

  • Poster for Freelancers

    Dennis Larue

  • Poster for A Dark Truth

    Francisco Francis

2011Aged 50

  • Poster for Serving Life

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for A Man's Story

    Self

  • Poster for Catch.44

    Ronny

  • Poster for Monte Carlo

    Executive Producer

2010Aged 49

  • Poster for Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life

    Lion

  • Poster for Our Family Wedding

    Brad Boyd

  • Poster for Repo Men

    Jake

  • Poster for My Own Love Song

    Joey

  • Poster for The Experiment

    Barris

  • Poster for 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift

    (archive footage)

  • Poster for Lullaby for Pi

    George

2009Aged 48

  • Poster for Powder Blue

    Charlie

  • Poster for Winged Creatures

    Charlie Archenault

  • Poster for Crips and Bloods: Made in America

    Narrator

  • Poster for Where the Wild Things Are

    Ira (voice)

  • Poster for Hurricane Season

    Al Collins

  • Poster for Kassim the Dream

    Producer

2008Aged 47

  • Poster for Vantage Point

    Howard Lewis

  • Poster for Mon Clown

    Self (archive footage)

  • Poster for Dragon Hunters

    Lian-Chu (voice)

  • Poster for Street Kings

    Captain Jack Wander

2007Aged 46

  • Poster for The Air I Breathe

    Happiness

  • Poster for Even Money

    Clyde Snow

  • Poster for Ripple Effect

    Philip

  • Poster for The Great Debaters

    Dr. James Farmer Sr.

2006Aged 45

  • Poster for The Last King of Scotland

    Idi Amin

  • Poster for The Marsh

    Geoffrey Hunt

  • Poster for Everyone's Hero

    Lonnie Brewster (voice)

  • Poster for Before the Music Dies

    Self - Narrator (voice)

2005Aged 44

  • Poster for Jiminy Glick in Lalawood

    Forest Whitaker

  • Poster for American Gun

    Carter

  • Poster for Odyssey in Rome

    (Unknown)

  • Poster for Mary

    Ted Younger

  • Poster for A Little Trip to Heaven

    Abe Holt

2004Aged 43

2003Aged 42

2002Aged 41

  • Poster for Panic Room

    Burnham

  • Poster for Door to Door

    Co-Executive Producer

2001Aged 40

2000Aged 39

  • Poster for The Paperboy

    Narrator

  • Poster for Battlefield Earth

    Ker

  • Poster for Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows

    Self

1999Aged 38

  • Poster for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

    Ghost Dog

  • Poster for Light It Up

    Officer Dante Jackson

  • Poster for Witness Protection

    Steven Beck

1998Aged 37

  • Poster for Body Count

    Crane

  • Poster for Hope Floats

    Executive Music Producer

1996Aged 35

  • Poster for Phenomenon

    Nate Pope

  • Poster for Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault

    Mr. Rucker

1995Aged 34

  • Poster for Smoke

    Cyrus Cole

  • Poster for Species

    Dan Smithson, Empath

  • Poster for Mr. Holland's Opus

    Bobby Tidd - Adult (uncredited)

  • Poster for Waiting to Exhale

    Director

1994Aged 33

  • Poster for Blown Away

    Anthony Franklin

  • Poster for The Enemy Within

    Col. MacKenzie Casey

  • Poster for Jason's Lyric

    Maddog

  • Poster for Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso

    Self

  • Poster for Prêt-à-Porter

    Cy Bianco

1993Aged 32

  • Poster for Body Snatchers

    Major Collins

  • Poster for Last Light

    Fred Whitmore

  • Poster for Lush Life

    Buddy Chester

  • Poster for Bank Robber

    Officer Battle

  • Poster for Strapped

    Director

1992Aged 31

  • Poster for Article 99

    Dr. Sid Handleman

  • Poster for The Crying Game

    Jody

  • Poster for Consenting Adults

    David Duttonville

1991Aged 30

  • Poster for A Rage in Harlem

    Jackson

  • Poster for Diary of a Hitman

    Dekker

1990Aged 29

  • Poster for Downtown

    Dennis Curren

  • Poster for Criminal Justice

    Jessie Williams

1989Aged 28

  • Poster for Johnny Handsome

    Dr. Steven Fisher

1988Aged 27

  • Poster for Bloodsport

    Rawlins

  • Poster for Bird

    Charlie 'Bird' Parker

1987Aged 26

  • Poster for Hands of a Stranger

    Sergeant Delaney

  • Poster for Stakeout

    Det. Jack Pismo

  • Poster for Good Morning, Vietnam

    Edward Garlick

1986Aged 25

  • Poster for The Color of Money

    Amos

  • Poster for Platoon

    Big Harold

  • Poster for A Little Off Mark

    Thanks

1985Aged 24

  • Poster for Vision Quest

    Balldozer

1982Aged 21

  • Poster for Tag: The Assassination Game

    Gowdy's Bodyguard

  • Poster for Fast Times at Ridgemont High

    Charles Jefferson

Year unknown