Forest Whitaker
Date of birth: 1961-07-15
Place of birth: Longview, Texas, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Forest Steven Whitaker III, Φόρεστ Γουίτακερ, 포레스트 휘태커, フォレスト・ウィテカー, Forest Steven Whitaker, Форест Вітакер, فارست ویتاکر
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.
Movie Credits
Blown Away
1994-07-01
Blown Away tells the story of Jimmy Dove, who works for the Boston bomb squad. Shortly after Dove le
Johnny Handsome
1989-09-12
A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and parol
Street Kings
2008-04-10
Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the de
Smoke
1995-06-09
Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid
The Last King of Scotland
2006-09-27
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his fo
Good Morning, Vietnam
1987-12-23
A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular a
Phone Booth
2003-01-06
A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs
Prêt-à-Porter
1994-12-23
During Paris Fashion Week, models, designers and industry hot shots gather to work, mingle, argue an
Panic Room
2002-03-29
Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the even
Body Snatchers
1993-06-09
When Environmental Protection Agency inspector Steve Malone travels to a remote military base in ord
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
1999-10-06
A Black hitman who models after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
Battlefield Earth
2000-05-12
In the year 3000, man is no match for the Psychlos, a greedy, manipulative race of aliens on a quest
Jason's Lyric
1994-05-22
The story of a young man who must confront his own fears about love as well as his relationships wit
The Marsh
2006-05-18
Writer Claire Holloway is troubled by nightmares of Rose Marsh Farm. She decides to vacation at the
Body Count
1998-04-28
A group of thieves attempt to rob an art gallery, but when plans backfire and one of the men winds u
The Crying Game
1992-09-02
Irish Republican Army member Fergus forms an unexpected bond with Jody, a kidnapped British soldier
Bloodsport
1988-02-26
An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite
Vantage Point
2008-02-01
During an historic counter-terrorism summit in Spain, the President of the United States is struck d
Repo Men
2010-03-18
In the future, medical technology has advanced to the point where people can buy artificial organs t
Bird
1988-06-01
Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his rema
The Color of Money
1986-10-17
Former pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He
Hurricane Season
2010-02-09
Based on true events amid the wreckage and chaos dealt by Hurricane Katrina; one basketball coach in
Article 99
1992-03-13
Dr. Richard Sturgess leads a team of compassionate doctors at a veteran's hospital. Along with Drs.
Phenomenon
1996-07-05
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligenc
Species
1995-07-07
In 1993, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Project receives a transmission detailing an
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982-08-13
Based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times follows a group of high sc
Our Family Wedding
2010-03-12
The weeks leading up to a young couple's wedding is comic and stressful, especially as their respect
The Air I Breathe
2007-02-07
A gambler’s bet spiraling into chaos, a gangster's prophetic visions, a pop star’s dark entanglement
Green Dragon
2001-05-17
A tale about Vietnamese refugees sent to an orientation camp on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in Ca
The Great Debaters
2007-12-25
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words
A Rage in Harlem
1991-05-03
A beautiful black gangster's moll flees to Harlem with a trunkload of gold after a shootout, unaware
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996-11-23
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based
A Little Trip to Heaven
2005-12-26
Insurance investigator Abraham Holt travels to a tiny town in rural Minnesota to look into a particu
Downtown
1990-01-12
Officer Alex Kearney patrols an upscale neighborhood in Philadelphia, where he pulls over a well-con
The Experiment
2010-07-15
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that
American Gun
2005-09-15
Seemingly disparate portraits of people -- among them a single mother, a high school principal, and
My Own Love Song
2010-04-07
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Consenting Adults
1992-10-16
Richard and Priscilla Parker are an ordinary suburban couple whose lives are invaded and rocked by t
Winged Creatures
2009-07-08
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivo
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
2010-03-02
Jennie the terrier has everything a dog could ever wish for, but still feels that something is missi
Where the Wild Things Are
2009-10-16
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira,
Mary
2005-11-18
The filming of a movie about Jesus’ death deeply affects three people — an egotistical director who
Deacons for Defense
2005-04-05
Inspired by a true story, this drama is set in 1965, not long after passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Lullaby for Pi
2010-10-11
A washed-up musician befriends a reclusive artist with an unusual name.
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
2009-08-14
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that h
Powder Blue
2009-05-08
On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption ar
Light It Up
1999-11-04
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in a
Even Money
2007-03-13
Gambling addiction bring the stories of three otherwise unconnected people together as it destroys e
Diary of a Hitman
1991-11-20
A veteran hitman, Dekker is ready to call it quits and leave the profession. His final job, however,
Repentance
2014-02-28
An earnest life-coach/author, Thomas Carter, is mysteriously abducted by a deranged client, Angel Sa
Last Light
1993-08-22
Kiefer Sutherland plays Denver Bayliss, a condemned murderer who has killed three people, including
Lush Life
1993-10-01
Jeff Goldblum and Forest Whitaker star as New York jazz musicians, forced to confront a life beyond
Feast of All Saints
2001-11-11
Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free Peop
Catch.44
2011-12-08
The lives of three female assassins take a sudden turn when their charming boss lures them into one
The Fourth Angel
2001-08-15
Workaholic reporter, Jack Elgin takes his family on a working trip to India, but their aircraft is h
The Last Stand
2013-01-12
Ray Owens is sheriff of the quiet US border town of Sommerton Junction after leaving the LAPD follow
The Enemy Within
1994-08-24
A officer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff uncovers a planned military coup of the U.S. government and
Witness Protection
2011-04-14
Would you be willing to walk away from everyone and everything you've ever known in exchange for you
Serving Life
2011-07-28
SERVING LIFE documents an extraordinary hospice program where hardened criminals care for dying fell
Freelancers
2012-08-10
The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner
The Butler
2013-08-16
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white f
A Dark Truth
2012-11-29
In the jungles of Ecuador, blood taints the waters. A multinational conglomerate's unholy alliance w
Out of the Furnace
2013-11-12
Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in p
Pawn
2013-04-23
A petty robbery spirals into a tense hostage situation after three gunmen hold up a diner that's a f
Zulu
2013-12-04
As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war
Black Nativity
2013-11-27
A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to
Two Men in Town
2014-05-07
A convict is released from prison in a small town in New Mexico. 18 years ago he killed a deputy. Th
Criminal Justice
1990-09-08
A knife-scarred victim must identify her assailant beyond a reasonable doubt. Meanwhile the accused
Taken 3
2014-12-16
Ex-government operative Bryan Mills finds his life is shattered when he's falsely accused of a murde
Big George Foreman
2023-04-27
Fueled by an impoverished childhood, George Foreman channeled his anger into becoming an Olympic Gol
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
2023-11-26
An omnium-gatherum of film, poem, and song excerpts contextually juxtaposed in an attempt to explore
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
2022-09-08
Celebrate Disney+ Day with a special look at the Star Wars original series Andor.
Southpaw
2015-03-24
Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career,
Making of Phone Booth
2003-03-25
Behind the scenes documentary of the Joel T. Schumacher film Phone Booth.
Prophets of Change
2022-10-12
Can music overcome borders and walls and bring people together? Prophets of Change tracks musicians,
Everyone's Hero
2006-08-04
A boy begins a grand journey to return Babe Ruth's baseball bat before the deciding game of the 1932
Arrival
2016-11-10
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the milita
The Misbehavers
2004-12-04
The Misbehavers documents a small army of guerrilla filmmakers as they converge at the 2004 Sundance
Dope
2015-06-19
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college ap
Mysteries of the Unseen World
2013-11-01
Mysteries of the Unseen World transports audiences to places on this planet that they have never bee
Odyssey in Rome
2005-09-30
Alex Grazioli follows bad-boy filmmaker Abel Ferrara as he spends three grueling years battling obst
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016-12-14
A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a ne
Stakeout
1987-08-05
Two detectives observe an escaped convict's ex-girlfriend, but complications set in when one of them
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
2000-09-27
Hollywood careers are full of make-or-break moments. For Clint Eastwood, one such moment came when s
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022-11-13
The portrait of the last cowboy Hollywood legend dives into the 65 years of an extraordinary career
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2005-05-08
Hungry for an A-list interview that could launch him into the gossip-page stratosphere, Jiminy Glick
The Follow
2001-05-24
The Driver is hired by a nervous movie manager to spy on a paranoid actor's wife. During his tailing
Sewing Hope
For 25 years Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army terrorized Northern Uganda. Children were st
The King of Kings
2025-04-07
Charles Dickens tells his young son Walter the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtim
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010-08-03
The team of smart-talkin' toddlers known as Everything Is Terrible! have once again emerged from the
Hands of a Stranger
1987-05-10
A New York cop becomes obsessed with finding his wife's rapist.
I Am You
2016-12-12
In Peace We Trust. This documentary shows us how animal rights and human rights & the environmen
Black Panther
2018-02-13
King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to s
Bank Robber
1993-12-03
After robbing a bank, the robber hides out from the police in a seedy hotel where he is forced to br
Burden
2018-08-05
Ku Klux Klansman Mike Burden opens the Redneck Shop and KKK museum in historic Laurens, SC. He subse
City of Lies
2018-09-06
Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest ca
Finding Steve McQueen
2019-03-15
In 1972, a gang of close-knit thieves from Youngstown, Ohio attempt to steal $30 million in illegal
Ripple Effect
2007-06-21
Believing that bad karma is keeping him from realizing his dream, hip clothing designer Amer Atrash
Tag: The Assassination Game
1982-04-20
Pretending to do research for his newspaper, college student Alex Marsh teams up with the somewhat o
The Forgiven
2018-03-09
After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption.
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
2018-03-23
Whenever the phrase "breaking the color line" is used, there's a temptation to invoke Jackie Robinso
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
2001-01-01
A documentary about the making of Oliver Stone's Vietnam War film, Platoon (1986).
A Man's Story
2011-10-08
Documentary about British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.
Platoon
1986-12-19
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the
How It Ends
2018-07-13
A desperate father tries to return home to his pregnant wife after a mysterious apocalyptic event tu
Sorry to Bother You
2018-07-06
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
2017-04-04
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' is a 2017 documentary detailing the produc
The Paperboy
2000-01-01
A young paper boy goes through his early morning delivery routine.
Vision Quest
1985-02-15
After deciding he needs to do something meaningful with his life, high school wrestler Louden Swain
First Daughter
2004-09-24
Samantha MacKenzie, the daughter of the president of the United States, arrives at college with a gr
Respect
2021-08-12
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her inte
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020-11-06
An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous grandda
Shooting 'Panic Room'
2004-03-30
Watch David Fincher's journey of the filming process for Panic Room (2002) in this interesting docum
Before the Music Dies
2006-11-02
B4MD tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
2017-02-14
A look at the source story, core human themes, the challenges and process of bringing the story to t
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
2001-08-14
A documentary about the making of Jim Jarmusch's 1999 film GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI, includ
Mr. Holland's Opus
1995-12-29
In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020-08-30
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
Rising from Ashes
2013-08-02
“Rising from Ashes” is a feature length documentary about the first Rwandan National Cycling Team and
Food Chains
2014-04-26
This call to arms documentary details the questionable ethics of the food supply industry, pointing
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
2020-09-19
Nations United is a special, first of its kind film, created by the United Nations on its 75th Anniv
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1994-12-11
A look at the life and career of actor/director Clint Eastwood, including scenes from his past film
Havoc
2025-04-25
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city
A Fall from Grace
Detective Michael Tabb knows the city he protects inside and out. He has felt its true heart, as muc
Seaweed Stories
2024-10-05
Presented by Lonely Whale in association with Re:wild. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Seaweed Stories
Four Dogs Playing Poker
2000-06-06
With the help of their mentor Felix, a group of the best friends and first-time thieves steal a valu
Rose's Baby
Álvaro and his ex-wife Saffron attempt to set aside the drama of their messy divorce for the sake of
Making a Scene | 11 Performances
2013-11-25
The year's best performers star in 11 original (very) short films directed by Oscar-winning cinemato
The Grand Baby
1983-11-02
A teen from the city learns to fend for himself living with his grandmother in the rural South.