{"id":644542,"date":"2019-06-07T09:15:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T09:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"
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Actor Denzel Washington was honoured"},"modified":"2019-06-07T09:15:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T09:15:57","slug":"denzel-washington-celebrated-by-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/07\/denzel-washington-celebrated-by-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Denzel Washington celebrated by Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Actor Denzel Washington was honoured by Hollywood Thursday for a pioneering career spanning five decades and two Oscars that opened the door for a generation of black movie stars.<\/p>\n

Director and frequent collaborator Spike Lee presented the 64-year-old with the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement award \u2014 billed as \u201cthe highest honour for a career in film\u201d \u2014 at a gala event at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Hollywood\u2019s small elite of A-list black leading men paid tribute to Washington\u2019s trailblazing career \u2014 fellow Oscar winners Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx and Mahershala Ali took to the stage, as did \u201cBlack Panther\u201d stars Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou paved the way. You showed us the path. But what\u2019s truly monumental is that your influence, your reach, transcends race without ever denying it,\u201d said Ali.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe are here because we stand on the shoulders of a giant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no \u2018Black Panther\u2019 without Denzel Washington,\u201d said Boseman, referring to Marvel Studios\u2019 first film to focus on a black superhero.<\/p>\n

Predominantly white Hollywood has been heavily criticized for its diversity problem, notably in the #OscarsSoWhite campaign surrounding the 2016 Academy Awards.<\/p>\n

Washington is one of only four black stars to win the best actor Oscar.<\/p>\n

He won a best supporting actor Oscar for American Civil War epic \u201cGlory\u201d (1989) and the best actor statuette for his bad cop character in Antoine Fuqua\u2019s crime thriller \u201cTraining Day\u201d (2001).<\/p>\n

One of cinema\u2019s most versatile actors, Washington has received acclaim for both cerebral, nuanced roles and action parts in movies such as \u201cMan on Fire,\u201d \u201cAmerican Gangster\u201d and \u201cRemember the Titans.\u201d<\/p>\n

He portrayed the American Muslim minister and civil rights campaigner Malcolm X in Lee\u2019s 1992 biopic.<\/p>\n

Other recent recipients of the annual AFI lifetime achievement award include George Clooney, Al Pacino and Meryl Streep. Freeman and Sidney Poitier have also been honoured.<\/p>\n

The gala, which also featured a surprise appearance by Beyonce, will be broadcast by TNT on June 20.<\/p>\n

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