Viola Davis

Biography

Davis spent years as a respected stage and character actor before The Help and How to Get Away with Murder made her a household name in her late forties. Her production company JuVee and her memoir have extended her influence beyond acting into authorship and advocacy.

American actress and producer, and one of the few performers to achieve EGOT status — winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.

Known for

Fences, How to Get Away with Murder and The Help.

Notable works & defining projects

• Fences
• How to Get Away with Murder
• The Woman King

Notable achievements

• Won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fences (2016)
• First Black actor to achieve the 'Triple Crown of Acting' (Oscar, Emmy and Tony)
• Her memoir Finding Me won the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book (2023)

Timeline

1. 2001Won her first Tony Award for King Hedley II
2. 2010Won the Tony for Fences on Broadway opposite Denzel Washington
3. 2017Won the Oscar for the film version of Fences, completing the acting Triple Crown

Did you know?

• She is a graduate of the Juilliard School's drama division (1993)
• She grew up in poverty in Central Falls, Rhode Island, an experience she writes about candidly in her memoir Finding Me