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.
Known For
Anthony Franklin
Blown Away
Dr. Steven Fisher
Johnny Handsome
Captain Jack Wander
Street Kings
Cyrus Cole
Smoke
Idi Amin
The Last King of Scotland
Edward Garlick
Good Morning, Vietnam
Captain Ramey
Phone Booth
Cy Bianco
Prêt-à-Porter
Burnham
Panic Room
Major Collins
Body Snatchers
Ghost Dog
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Ker
Battlefield Earth
Maddog
Jason's Lyric
Geoffrey Hunt
The Marsh
Crane
Body Count
Jody
The Crying Game
Rawlins
Bloodsport
Howard Lewis
Vantage Point
Jake
Repo Men
Charlie 'Bird' Parker
Bird
Amos
The Color of Money
Al Collins
Hurricane Season
Dr. Sid Handleman
Article 99
Nate Pope
Phenomenon
Dan Smithson, Empath
Species
Charles Jefferson
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Brad Boyd
Our Family Wedding
Happiness
The Air I Breathe
Addie
Green Dragon
Dr. James Farmer Sr.
The Great Debaters
Jackson
A Rage in Harlem
Mr. Rucker
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
Abe Holt
A Little Trip to Heaven
Dennis Curren
Downtown
Barris
The Experiment
Carter
American Gun
Joey
My Own Love Song
David Duttonville
Consenting Adults
Charlie Archenault
Winged Creatures
Lion
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
Ira (voice)
Where the Wild Things Are
Ted Younger
Mary
Marcus Clay
Deacons for Defense
George
Lullaby for Pi
Narrator
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Charlie
Powder Blue
Officer Dante Jackson
Light It Up
Clyde Snow
Even Money
Dekker
Diary of a Hitman
Angel
Repentance
Fred Whitmore
Last Light
Buddy Chester
Lush Life
Daguerreotypist Picard
Feast of All Saints
Ronny
Catch.44
Agent Jules Bernard
The Fourth Angel
Agent John Bannister
The Last Stand
Col. MacKenzie Casey
The Enemy Within
Steven Beck
Witness Protection
Narrator (voice)
Serving Life
Dennis Larue
Freelancers
Cecil Gaines
The Butler
Francisco Francis
A Dark Truth
Chief Wesley Barnes
Out of the Furnace
Will
Pawn
Ali Sokhela
Zulu
Reverend Cornell Cobbs
Black Nativity
William Garnett
La Voie de l‘ennemi
Jessie Williams
Criminal Justice
Inspector Frank Dotzler
Taken 3
Doc Broadus
Big George Foreman
Ghost Dog (archive footage)
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
Titus 'Tick' Wills
Southpaw
Self
Making of Phone Booth
Narrator
Prophets of Change
Lonnie Brewster (voice)
Everyone's Hero
Colonel Weber
Arrival
Self
The Misbehavers
The Narrator (voice)
Dope
Narrator
Mysteries of the Unseen World
Odyssey in Rome
Saw Gerrera
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Det. Jack Pismo
Stakeout
Self
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
Self (archive footage)
Clint Eastwood, la dernière légende
Forest Whitaker
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
The Employer
The Follow
Narrator (voice)
Sewing Hope
Peter (voice)
The King of Kings
(archive footage)
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Sergeant Delaney
Hands of a Stranger
Narrator (voice)
I Am You
Zuri
Black Panther
Officer Battle
Bank Robber
Reverend Kennedy
Burden
Jack Jackson
City of Lies
Howard Lambert
Finding Steve McQueen
Philip
Ripple Effect
Gowdy's Bodyguard
Tag: The Assassination Game
Desmond Tutu
The Forgiven
Narrator (voice)
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
Self
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
Self
A Man's Story
Big Harold
Platoon
Tom
How It Ends
First Equisapien / Demarius
Sorry to Bother You
Self
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
Narrator
The Paperboy
Balldozer
Vision Quest
Narrator (voice)
First Daughter
C. L. Franklin
Respect
Jeronicus Jangle
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Self
Shooting 'Panic Room'
Self - Narrator (voice)
Before the Music Dies
Self
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)
Mr. Holland's Opus
Self
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Narrator
Rising from Ashes
Food Chains
Self
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
Self
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
Lawrence Beaumont
Havoc
A Fall from Grace
Narrator (voice)
Seaweed Stories
Mr. Ellington
Four Dogs Playing Poker
Rose's Baby
Making a Scene
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
128
Gender
Male
Birthday
1961-07-15
Place of Birth
Longview, Texas, USA
Also Known As
Forest Steven Whitaker III