Jeffrey Wright Add to My Celebs Age 46 Birthday Dec. 7th, 1965 Born in Washington, District of Columbia, USA Height 5' 11"

Jeffrey Wright's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Angels in America Belize The Angel o…

Main Movie Roles 2011 - Source Code 2008 - W. 2008 - Cadillac Records 2008 - Quantum of Solace 2007 - The Invasion 2007 - Chicago 10 2006 - Lady in the Water 2006 - Casino Royale 2005 - Syriana 2005 - Broken Flowers 2004 - Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson 2004 - The Manchurian Candidate 2002 - D-Tox 2001 - Ali 2000 - Shaft 2000 - Hamlet 2000 - Crime and Punishment in Suburbia 1999 - Ride with the Devil 1998 - Celebrity 1996 - Basquiat 1990 - Presumed Innocent

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB


BIOGRAPHY:

Quite possibly the most underrated and underexposed actor of his caliber and generation, Jeffrey Wright's undeniable talent and ability to successfully bring to life any role he undertakes is on a par with the most praised and revered A-list actors in the business. Born and raised in Washington DC, Wright graduated from the prestigious Amherst college in 1987. Although he studied Political Science while at Amherst, Wright left the school with something that would prove to be more valuable: a love for acting. Shortly after graduating he won an acting scholarship to NYU, but dropped out after only two months to pursue acting full time. With roles in 1990's Presumed Innocent, and the Broadway production of Angels in America, (in which he won a well deserved Tony award), within a relatively short time Wright was able to show off his exceptional talent and ability on both stage and screen alike. His first major on-screen performance came in 1996 in the Julian Schnabel directed film Basquiat. Wright's harrowing performance as the late painter Jean Michele Basquiat was critically acclaimed for its haunting accuracy and raw emotion. With a Tony, a Golden Globe, and an AFI award under his belt, the intensity of Wright's skill has been proven over and over again. Hopefully the near future will bring an influx of more varied lead roles for black actors so that Wright can continue to astonish his colleagues, critics and fans alike with the intensity of his skill.


TRIVIA:

• In 2006, became the second African American to play Felix Leiter in an official James Bond film.
• Father died when he was a year old and was raised by his mother, who was a lawyer before working at the U.S. Customs Department, and his aunt, a one-time nurse.
• Has appeared in three films with 'Daniel Craig (I)' (qv) in three years, _Casino Royale (2006)_ (qv), _The Invasion (2007)_ (qv) and _Quantum of Solace (2008)_ (qv).
• Is friends with 'Adrian Pasdar' (qv).
• Although he alters aspects of his physical appearance for each role, his voice is often unrecognizable from one role to the next. The voices of Belize, with his intelligent, acerbic wit in _"Angels in America" (2003)_ (qv), to Peoples Hernandez whose vicious macho confidence is conveyed through his Latino accent in _Shaft (2000)_ (qv) to Al Melvin _The Manchurian Candidate (2004)_ (qv), whose deep grumblings heartbreakingly represent the state of a destroyed man.
• His cousin, Brian Wright, was the boy who portrayed young 'Basquiat' at the beginning of that film. The production team needed a child to portray Basquiat who also looked like Jeffrey Wright. Because of this, Jeffrey asked his cousin to do the job.
• Has one son, Elijah.
• He received an honorary degree from Amherst College in 2004.

Jeffrey Wright Photos

powered by

Loading...

Previous | Next   (1)