Jeffrey Wright Biography
Summary
"Jeffrey Wright" (born December 7, 1965) is a Tony Award-, Emmy Award-, and Golden Globe Award-winning American film and stage actor.
Biography
Early life
Wright was born in Washington, D.C. to a mother who worked as a customs lawyer. He graduated from St. Albans School for Boys and attended Amherst College, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science and planning to continue on to law school; however, he decided to study acting instead. After receiving an acting scholarship from New York University and attending the school for two months, he decided to leave and become a full time actor.
Career
He began appearing off-Broadway in New York City and Washington, D.C., and in 1990 appeared in his first major film as an attorney in "Presumed Innocent", which starred Harrison Ford. In 1991, Wright joined John Houseman's national touring repertory company The Acting Company with productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Athol Fugard's Blood Knot. Wright continued with his stage performances and in 1994 was cast as Norman 'Belize' Arriaga in Tony Kushner's award-winning play "Angels in America." His portrayal of a gay nurse forced to take care of a homophobic Roy Cohn as he lay dying from AIDS won him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
In 1996, Wright had another breakthrough performance on the big screen, portraying painter Jean-Michel Basquiat in the film "Basquiat". The film depicts the real-life tribulations of a young artist who gained tremendous success in the white-dominated New York art scene until he died of heroin overdose at the age of 27. Wright's performance was again critically acclaimed and the movie gave him the chance to work alongside veterans such as Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Wright gave memorable performances in both leading and supporting roles. His more mentionable roles were in movies such as Woody Allen's "Celebrity" (1998), "Shaft" (2000), and "Boycott" (2001), where he gave another critically acclaimed performance as Martin Luther King, Jr. and was awarded the AFI Award for his portrayal. In 2003 Wright reprised his role as Norman 'Belize' Arriaga in HBO's award-winning adaptation of "Angels in America" starring alongside screen veterans Al Pacino, Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep and directed by Mike Nichols. His performance garnered him an Emmy award as well as a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries. In 2004, he appeared in Jonathan Demme's remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" opposite Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liev Schreiber. In February 2005, Wright returned to HBO Films in his friend George C. Wolfe's directorial debut, "Lackawanna Blues", which starred many notable African-American actors. He also guest starred on "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" and "Homicide: Life on the Street".
His most notable film role was as the Washington attorney Bennett Holiday in Stephen Gaghan's "Syriana" (2005), where he was the co-lead along with George Clooney and Matt Damon. The same year he played Bill Murray's eccentric Ethiopian neighbor Winston in Jim Jarmusch's existential road movie, "Broken Flowers".
In 2005, he starred in the play "This Is How It Goes", along side Ben Stiller and Amanda Peet. In 2006, Wright appeared as one of the tenants in "Lady in the Water" and as Felix Leiter in the 21st James Bond movie "Casino Royale". This makes him the first African-American man to play the character in an official Bond film (Bernie Casey played Leiter in the unofficial "Never Say Never Again").
Personal life
Wright married Carmen Ejogo in August 2000. They have a young son named Elijah and live in Brooklyn, New York. In 2004, Wright received an honorary degree from his alma mater Amherst College.
Filmography
"The Invasion" (2007)
"Casino Royale" (2006)
"Lady in the Water" (2006)
"Broken Flowers (2005)
"Lackawanna Blues" (2005)
"Syriana" (2005)
"The Topdog Diaries" (2004)
"The Manchurian Candidate" (2004)
"Angels in America" (2003)
"Eye See You" (2002)
"Ali" (2001)
"Crime and Punishment in Suburbia" (2000)
"Shaft" (2000)
"Hamlet" (2000)
"Meschugge" (2000)
"Ride With the Devil" (1999)
"Cement" (1999)
"Too Tired To Die" (1998)
"Celebrity" (1998)
"Critical Care" (1997)
"Too Tired to Die" (1997)
"Basquiat" (1996)
"Faithful" (1996)
"Jumpin at the Boneyard" (1992)
"Presumed Innocent" (1990)
Awards
American Film Institute, (2001), Best Male Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: "Boycott" (Winner)
Golden Globe, (2003), Best Supporting Actor (TV): "Angels in America" (Winner)
Independent Spirit Award, (1996), Best Debut Performance: "Basquiat" (Nominated)
Toronto Film Critics Association, (2000), Best Supporting Actor: "Shaft" (Winner)
External links
(HBO cast page for ") "]
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jeffrey Wright.
