Celebrated actor Denzel Washington’s list of accolades keeps getting bigger. The latest addition to the list is the Presidential Medal of Freedom, reports ‘Variety’. President Joe Biden announced the 17 honourees on Friday, that will be receiving the Medal of Freedom this year. Presented annually, the medal recognises public figures who have made notable contributions to American society, culture, politics or world peace.
The awards are presented in a ceremony at the White House every July. ‘Variety’ notes that Denzel Washington is the only actor or entertainment figure recognised this year, although sports figures Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe are also among the medal winners. Other honourees include religious figures Sister Simone Campbell and Father Alexander Karloutsos.
As well as, political leaders Gabrielle Giffords and Alan Simpson; activists Fred Gray, Diane Nash and Ral Yzaguirre; the former University of Texas at Brownsville President Julieta Garcia; healthcare worker Sandra Lindsay; Constitution Literacy and National Unity Project founder Khizr Khan; and US military leader Wilma Vaught. Steve Jobs, John McCain and Richard Trumka will be honoured posthumously.
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The Medal of Freedom recipients will be feted on July 7, three days after the US Independence Day. Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Denzel Washington has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and two Silver Bears. In 2016, he received the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2020, The New York Times named him the greatest actor of the 21st century.
He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the Broadway revival of the August Wilson play Fences in 2010. Washington later directed, produced, and starred in the film adaptation in 2016, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Washington. Denzel Washington is one of only five male actors to be nominated for an Academy Award in five different decades, alongside Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Newman, Sir Michael Caine, and Jack Nicholson.
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