Forest Whitaker The man has been acting, and well, since the early 1980s, but we’ve really only sat up and taken notice recently, since one of his latest performances, as the Ugandan president Idi Amin in the 2006 hit film The Last King of Scotland. This role earned him the following awards: a Satellite, a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award, Golden Globe, SAG (Screen Actors Guild), and Academy Award for Best Actor. In addition to film acting, forty-something Forest Whitaker has also taken to the stage and the small screen and is a director as well. He’s also well-known for his lazy eye. Whitaker was born in Longview, Texas on July 15, 1961, but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was still quite young. After he graduated from Palisades High School (where he played football with future NFL quarterback Jay Schroeder), Whitaker—on a football scholarship—went to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, but after an injury he transferred to the University of Southern California’s (USC) music and drama conservatories.
In 1982, Whitaker graduated from USC and also landed his first notable onscreen role in the 80s teen classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, starring Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Phoebe Cates. After Fast Times, Whitaker went on to snatch roles in films such as Platoon in 1986, with Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen; and Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987, opposite Robin Williams. His breakthrough role came in Clint Eastwood’s Bird in 1988 when he took on the leading role of musician Charlie “Bird” Parker, a role which earned him a Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. He later took leading roles in films such as Phenomenon in 1996, opposite John Travolta and Kyra Sedgwick; Phone Booth in 2002, with Colin Farrell and Kiefer Sutherland, and Panic Room in 2002, starring Jodie Foster.
Whitaker also tried his hand at producing and directing, co-producing and starring in 1991’s A Rage in Harlem, in which Danny Glover appeared. His big-screen directorial debut was 1995’s Waiting to Exhale starring musician Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. Further production endeavors for Whitaker include 2002’s Door to Door, starring William H Macy, and American Gun in 2005, in which he starred opposite Donald Sutherland. On the director front, Whitaker took on Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock in 1998 and First Daughter in 2004, starring Katie Holmes and Michael Keaton. Whitaker also made quite a name for himself on the small screen, serving as The Twilight Zone’s host for forty-four episodes in 2002, and also landed a recurring role on The Shield as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, as well as a recurring role on ER. Whitaker reportedly learned how to play the accordion and gained fifty pounds for his role as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin for 2006’s The Last King of Scotland, his most successful role to date. Besides a busy and successful actor and director, Whitaker is also a family man. He married actress Keisha Nash, with whom he has two daughters, True and Sonnet, in 1996. Whitaker also has a son, Ocean, born in 1990. YUDDY |
