Viola Davis Biography

Viola Davis was born on August 11, 1965, at her grandparents’ home in St. Matthews, South Carolina, USA.

Her father Dan Davis was a horse trainer. Her mother Mary Alice was a maid and factory worker. Mary was also a civil rights activist. Viola is the second youngest child of her parents’ six children.

Two months after Davis was born, the family moved to Rhode Island. While Davis and two of her sisters were taken to Rhode Island, her older brother and sister were left behind with their grandparents.

At the age of two, Davis, along with her mother, was taken to jail after the latter was arrested during a protest.

She attended ‘Central Falls High School’ where she developed an interest in acting. Following her schooling, she studied theatre at ‘Rhode Island College,’ and graduated in 1988. After graduation, she attended the prestigious ‘Juilliard School’ in New York City.

In 1988, Viola Davis made her Broadway debut in Joe Turner's ‘Come and Gone.’ She also appeared as a nurse in ‘The Substance of Fire.’ ‘The Substance of Fire’ marked her film debut after which she got her Screen Actors Guild card.

In 1998, she played a small role in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Out of Sight.’

In 2001, she appeared as a woman who fights for the right to abort her pregnancy in the play ‘King Hedley II.’ Davis was honored with the ‘Tony Award’ for her performance in this Broadway play.

Davis also did many television series. One of her most notable roles was of a serial killer in an episode titled ‘Badge’ from the television show ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent.’

In 2002, this African-American beauty caught the attention of the critics when she appeared in ‘Antwone Fisher.’ In this film, she hardly had any lines, but her presence was noticeable.

In 2008, Davis's career reached great heights after she portrayed the character of ‘Mrs. Miller,’ the mother of a boy who is thought to be molested by a priest, in the film adaptation of the Broadway play ‘Doubt.’

In 2010, Viola Davis returned to stage and delivered another show-stopping performance in August Wilson's ‘Fences.’

In 2011, she appeared in the screen adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel ‘The Help.’ This film highlighted the racial divide between the white housewives and their black servants.

In 2014, she teamed up with director Tate Taylor for ‘Get on Up,’ a biopic of singer James Brown. In the movie, she played the role of the singer’s mother. The same year, she was cast as ‘Professor Annalise Keating’ in ‘How to Get Away with Murder.’

From 2015 to 2019, she appeared in many movies like ‘Blackhat,’ ‘Custody,’ ‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Widows,’ and ‘Troop Zero.’

In 2020, Viola Davis appeared in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and her acting feteched her an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination.

In 2008, Viola Davis’ performance in ‘Doubt’ took her career to newer heights. Her portrayal of ‘Mrs. Miller’ made a tremendous impression, despite being a small role.

In the film adaption of Kathryn Stockett’s book ‘The Help,’ the actress appeared as the maid who gets interviewed by a white writer for a book. Her role resembled her real-life mother and grandmother; typical African women working in cotton and tobacco fields and as maids.

In 2001, Viola Davis won the ‘Tony Award’ for ‘Best Featured Actress in a Play’ as well as the ‘Drama Desk Award’ for her portrayal of ‘Tonya’ in ‘King Hedley II.’

In the year 2010, she won the ‘Tony Award’ for ‘The Best Actress in a Play’ for her portrayal of ‘Rose Maxson’ in ‘Fences.’

In 2011, she won two ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards’ for ‘The Help.’ She won the awards in the following categories: ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role’ and ‘Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.’

In 2014, Viola Davis won the ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series’ for ‘How to Get Away with Murder.’

In 2015, she won the ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series’ for ‘Fences.’ The same year, she won the ‘Emmy Award’ for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series’ for ‘How to Get Away with Murder.’

In 2016, she won the prestigious ‘Academy Award’ for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role’ for ‘Fences.’ The same year, she received the ‘British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ (BAFTA) for ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ for the same role.

Viola Davis is the first African-American to win five ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards.’ She also became the first black actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, winning the ‘Oscar,’ ‘Emmy,’ and ‘Tony.’

In 2018, she won the ‘Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Award’ for ‘Best Actress’ and ‘Seattle Film Critics Society Award’ for ‘Best Ensemble Cast’ for the film ‘Widows.’

In 2003, Viola Davis married actor Julius Tennon.

In October 2011, the couple adopted a girl, who was named Genesis. Davis is the stepmother to Tennon's children from his previous relationships.

Viola Davis has contributed a lot to her hometown Central Falls, which is situated in Rhode Island. In the year 2016, she inaugurated a community health center in Central Falls.

She has also donated a lot to the ‘Central Falls High School’ and the city’s library.

She took help from her mother for the portrayal of a maid’s character in ‘The Help.’

Davis and her daughter Genesis appeared together in ‘Get on Up.’