Voted most atractive due to symmetry of facial featuresToday we talk about the absolute hotness that is Denzel Washington, one of the most talented black actors in Hollywood today, if not the most talented and successful. He's won so many awards (including Oscars and Golden Globes) that he better get another room in his house to put them all in. He won his acting fame by playing several real-life figures.

The oh so lovely and talented Denzel hails from Mount Vermont, New York, where he lived with his mother Lennis Washington, a beauty parlor owner from Georgia, and his father, The first movie in which he dared have a love sceneDenzel Washington, a reverend for the Pentecostal Church. He was eventually sent away from home at age 14 along with his sister and brother, to boarding school so as not to witness his parents divorce. After completing his basic education, he went on to study at Fordham University which he graduated in 1977 with a BA in Drama and Journalism. His love for acting meant that he would go all the way to San Francisco after graduation to pursue a career as an actor. While here, he won a scholarship to the American Conservatory Theatre. From there, it seemed that all the doors were open for Denzel who began to get all sorts of roles, like the 1981 film "Carbon Copy".

He played many soldiers in his careerHis true fame came with the TV series "St. Elsewhere" where his embodiment of Dr. Phillip Chandler (which he played for 8 years running) brought fans to their knees. Slowly but steadily, he moved on to get better parts, like the one in 1987, for the movie "Cry Freedom", directed by Richard Attenborough, in which he played a real-life person, the black anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. He did such a good job with the part, that he got an Oscar nomination that year for Best Supporting Actor. Even though he didn't win that year, he came back the next, with an even better performance as a defiant former slave in "Glory" for which he indeed won an Oscar. Also in 1989 he played in "For Queen and Country" as a former British paratrooper gone wild, and he got good reviews here also.

That's one tough cookie right there... cool to boot!With the turn of the decade, Denzel had already established a name for himself and could now choose his own roles, and after a movie called "Mississippi Masala", he became the face of Malcolm X in the movie about his life. I'm thinking it was only a matter of time until he got the part of the Black Nationalist in the Spike Lee film, since he was the perfect man for the job. And for his efforts he managed to score yet another Oscar nomination, with many critics considering the movie one of the best of the 90s. Not wanting to be typecast, he declined an offer to play Martin Luther King Jr. and instead he chose the dodgy film "Philadelphia" alongside Tom Hanks, which turned out to be a huge success. This proved to be one of the best career decisions he made during the 90s (though very dangerous since AIDS was still a touchy subject back then) and one that turned him into a Hollywood leading man.

A series of good films ensued, such as "Crimson Tide", "Much Ado About Nothing", "The Preacher's Wife", "Virtuosity" and "The Pelican Brief". On a couple of occasions, while working on the set, Denzel actually refused to interact romantically with his white female co-stars (Kelly Lynch, Julia Roberts and Mimi Rogers were all turned down one at a time). He eventually got around to be comfortable enough to perform romance on screen and in Spike Lee's movie "He Got Game" he did a sex scene with Milla Jovovich.

He was even an action starThe end of the 90s would see him act out another real-life character, boxer Rubin "Huricane" Carter for which he just missed out on an Oscar, having to settle for a nomination and then, later, a Golden Globe. After the huge box office hit "Remember the Titans", it was time for Denzel to show the world again what he could do with the right character. In the thriller "Training Day" he plays a corrupt Narcotics cop who is feared by many. For that role he won his second Oscar, and I think we can all agree that he was one of the sexiest and toughest cops that we have seen on screen up until today (and that says a lot coming from a guy). He did a couple more movies that all fared well in the box office, and he still keeps at it today, with an upcoming project "American Gangster" opposite Russell Crowe already in the works.

His crowning achievementIf you got a soft spot for this man girls, you better take your business somewhere else or settle for that poster on the wall, because he is taken. He's been married to Pauletta Pearson since 1983, a fellow actress whom he met on the set of his first movie role, "Wilma". The happy couple who are reaching almost a quarter of a century together, have 4 kids, and are still going strong (having renewed their vows in South Africa in 1995). The man seems to be leading a truly blessed life, talent, money, happiness, you name it, he's got it. Maybe that's why he's so good at what he does. Anyway, I'm asking you to cast a vote right now, IN or OUT, to see where Denzel sits with you.

Selective Filmography:

* American Gangster (2007)

* Deja Vu (2006)

* Inside Man (2006)

* The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

* Man on Fire (2004)

* Out of Time (2003)

* Antwone Fisher (2002)

* John Q (2002)

* Training Day (2001)

* Remember the Titans (2000)

* The Hurricane (1999)

* The Bone Collector (1999)

* The Siege (1998)

* He Got Game (1998)

* The Preacher's Wife (1996)

* Courage Under Fire (1996)

* Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

* Virtuosity (1995)

* Crimson Tide (1995)

* Philadelphia (1993)

* The Pelican Brief (1993)

* Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

* Malcolm X (1992)

* Mo' Better Blues (1990)

* Heart Condition (1990)

* Glory (1989)

* The Mighty Quinn (1989)

* Cry Freedom (1987)

* A Soldier's Story (1984)

* Carbon Copy (1981)