Viola Davis
Acting
Born: August 11, 1965 (age 61) · St. Matthews, South Carolina, USA
Highest Rated
Biography
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Suicide Squad
2016
Prisoners
2013
Ocean's Eleven
2001
The Simpsons
1989
The Suicide Squad
2021
The Help
2011
Black Adam
2022
Ender's Game
2013
Law Abiding Citizen
2009
Knight and Day
2010
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
Disturbia
2007
Photos (9)
Movies (63)
Black Adam
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
The Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
Prisoners
Nancy Birch
Ocean's Eleven
Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
The Help
Aibileen Clark
Kung Fu Panda 4
The Chameleon (voice)
Law Abiding Citizen
Mayor April Henry
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
Blackhat
Carol Barrett
Ender's Game
Major Gwen Anderson
Air
Deloris Jordan
Widows
Veronica Rawlings
Knight and Day
CIA Director Isabel George
The Woman King
Nanisca
Eat Pray Love
Delia Shiraz
Traffic
Social Worker
Disturbia
Detective Parker
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Grandma
State of Play
Dr. Judith Franklin
The Unforgivable
Liz Ingram
Beautiful Creatures
Amma Treadeau
Out of Sight
Moselle
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Abby Black
Syriana
CIA Chairwoman
Solaris
Gordon
Kate & Leopold
Policewoman
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dr. Eden Minerva
G20
President Danielle Sutton
Trust
Gail Friedman
Fences
Rose Maxson
Doubt
Mrs. Miller
World Trade Center
Mother in Hospital
Nights in Rodanthe
Jean
Get On Up
Susie Brown
Stone Cold
Molly Crane
Far from Heaven
Sybil
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Officer Molly Crane
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Molly Crane
Antwone Fisher
Eva May
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Molly Crane
Madea Goes to Jail
Ellen
The Pentagon Wars
Sgt. Fanning
Custody
Martha Schulman
Troop Zero
Miss Rayleen
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Professor Lillian Friedman
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
Professor Lillian Friedman
Beyond All Boundaries
Hortense Johnson
The Architect
Tonya Neely
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Professor Lillian Friedman
Lila & Eve
Lila Walcott
Won't Back Down
Nona Alberts
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Florida Evans
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
Narrator (voice)
Grace & Glorie
Rosemary Allbright
The Shrink Is In
Robin
The Substance of Fire
Nurse
Amy & Isabelle
Dottie
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
Diane Barrino
The Ebony Canal: A Story of Black Infant Mortality
Narration
A Touch of Sugar
Narrator
TV Shows (27)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Donna Emmett · 7 eps
The Simpsons
Narrator (voice) · 1 eps
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Attorney Campbell · 1 eps
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Terry Randolph · 1 eps
Scandal
Annalise Keating · 1 eps
NYPD Blue
Woman · 1 eps
Without a Trace
Audrey Williams · 1 eps
How to Get Away with Murder
Annalise Keating · 90 eps
Third Watch
Margo Rodriguez · 1 eps
The Practice
Aisha Crenshaw · 1 eps
Judging Amy
Celeste · 1 eps
Peacemaker
Amanda Waller (uncredited) · 2 eps
The Division
Dr. Georgia Davis · 1 eps
Brothers and Sisters
Ellen Snyder · 1 eps
Sofia the First
Helen Hanshaw (voice) · 1 eps
The Guardian
Suzanna Clemons' Attorney · 1 eps
United States of Tara
1 eps
Creature Commandos
Amanda Waller (voice) · 4 eps
Providence
Dr. Eleanor Weiss · 1 eps
Hack
Stevie Morgan · 1 eps
Threshold
1 eps
The First Lady
Michelle Obama · 10 eps
The Andromeda Strain
Dr. Charlene Barton · 2 eps
Century City
Hannah Crane · 9 eps
City of Angels
Lynnette Peeler · 25 eps
Traveler
Agent Jan Marlow · 8 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rosemary Allbright · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (45)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · 1 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest · 4 eps
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · 1 eps
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self · 2 eps
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Graham Norton Show
Self · 1 eps
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self · 3 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · 1 eps
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self · 2 eps
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest · 3 eps
The View
Self - Guest · 2 eps
The View
Self · 2 eps
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self · 1 eps
Hot Ones
Self · 1 eps
60 Minutes
Self · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · 1 eps
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · 1 eps
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · 4 eps
The Oscars
Self · 1 eps
Number One on the Call Sheet
Self · 1 eps
Hot Ones Versus
Self · 1 eps
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA
Self · 1 eps
C ce soir, le débat
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Live from E!
Self · 1 eps
Celebrity IOU
Self · 1 eps
Dear...
Self · 1 eps
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage) · 4 eps
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
Love, Marilyn
Self
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Self (uncredited)
On Broadway
Self (archive footage)
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Self
Dark Girls
Self
Giving Voice
Self
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Self
The Grammys
Self · 1 eps
Food 2050
Self - Narrator (voice)
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
Self
Upcoming (4)
Producing (12)
How to Get Away with Murder
Producer
Number One on the Call Sheet
Executive Producer
The Woman King
Producer
The First Lady
Executive Producer
G20
Producer
Troop Zero
Producer
Emanuel
Executive Producer
The Last Defense
Executive Producer
In a Man's World
Executive Producer
Silver Dollar Road
Executive Producer
Night Shift
Executive Producer
The Color of Cola
Executive Producer