Forest Whitaker was born in Longview, Texas, in 1961 and grew up in Southern California. As a student at Palisades High School, he played football, took voice lessons and performed in musicals. He is an African American actor, producer and director.
Athletics shaped his route into acting. A college football career ended with a serious back injury, after which he switched to music and studied opera as a tenor before his focus moved to performance at the University of Southern California. He graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting in 1982 and later took a course at Drama Studio London’s California branch. His acting credits include Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Arrival, Black Panther and Rogue One. On television, he has played Bumpy Johnson in Godfather of Harlem.
At the Academy Awards on February 25, 2007, Whitaker won leading actor for The Last King of Scotland, released in 2006.
His work behind the camera includes producing Fruitvale Station, Roxanne Roxanne and Sorry to Bother You. USC also records his Broadway appearance as Erie Smith in Hughie.
In 2012, Whitaker founded the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, a nonprofit that works with young men and women in regions affected by conflict to develop their skills as leaders, peace builders and community builders. UNESCO named him a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation in 2011 and entrusted him with the Special Envoy title in 2014. Its account describes the initiative’s educational partnerships in countries including Uganda, South Sudan and Mexico, as well as conflict-resolution education for young people in the United States.
