
Forest Steven Whitaker was born on July 15, 1961 in While his "gentle giant" characters typically display innocence, indecision, and timidity along with a strong underlying humanity, he has certainly not shied away from the edgier, darker corners of life as his occasional hitmen and other menacing streetwise types can attest. Although in only the first section of the film, he was memorable as the IRA-captured British soldier whose bizarre relationship with a mysterious femme fatale serves as the catalyst for the critically-lauded drama The Crying Game (1992). Always a willing participant to push the envelope, he's gone on to enhance a number of lesser films. Among those was his plastic surgeon in Johnny Handsome (1989), gay clothing designer in Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter (1994), alien hunter in Species (1995), absentee father confronted by his estranged son in Smoke (1995), and Mafia hitman who models himself after the samurai warrior in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), among many others. He also appeared in the sci-fi disaster film Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000). On the TV front, he was the consulting producer and host of a revamped Rod Serling's cult series classic "The Twilight Zone" (2002). In the early 1990s, Whitaker widened his horizons to include producing/directing and has since gained respect behind the camera as well. He started things off co-producing the violent gangster film A Rage in Harlem (1991), in which he co-starred with Gregory Hines and Robin Givens, and then made his successful directorial debut with the soulful Waiting to Exhale (1995), showcasing a legion of distaff black stars. He also directed co-star Whitney Houston's music video of the movie's theme song ("Shoop Shoop"). He scored with audiences helming the fluffy romantic comedy First Daughter (2004) with Katie Holmes and Michael Keaton. Most recently he can be seen Our Family Wedding (2010), Repo Men (2010), The Experiment (2010) and TV Series, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011). He is married to former model Keisha Whitaker and has three children by her. Whitaker's multimedia company, Spirit Dance Entertainment, includes film, television and music production. He works closely with a number of charitable organizations, giving back to his community by serving as an Honorary Board Members for Penny Lane , an organization that provides assistance to abused teenagers, the Human Rights Watch and The Hope North organization.
Movie | A Fall from Grace | Source | 2019 |
Series | Soccer Saturday | Captain Ed Ramey | 2019 |
Movie | Burden | Reverend Kennedy | 2018-01-18 |
Series | Roots | Fiddler | 2016-05-30 |
Movie | Roots | Fiddler | 2016-05-30 |
Movie | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Saw Gerrera | 2016-12-16 |
Movie | Arrival | Colonel Weber | 2016-11-10 |
Movie | Southpaw | Titus 'Tick' Wills | 2015-06-15 |
Movie | Dope | Narrator | 2015-06-19 |
Movie | Taken 3 | Inspector Frank Dotzler | 2014-12-16 |
Movie | Two Men in Town | William Garnett | 2014-02-06 |
Movie | Repentance | Angel | 2014-02-28 |
Movie | The Last Stand | Agent John Bannister | 2013-01-12 |
Movie | Pawn | Will | 2013-04-23 |
Movie | Africa | Narrator | 2013-01-02 |
Movie | Making a Scene | Man | 2013-11-25 |
Movie | Zulu | Ali Sokhela | 2013-12-04 |
Movie | Black Nativity | Reverend Cornell Cobbs | 2013-11-27 |
Movie | Out of the Furnace | Chief Wesley Barnes | 2013-12-06 |
Movie | The Butler | Cecil Gaines | 2013-08-16 |
Movie | A Dark Truth | Francisco Francis | 2012-11-29 |
Movie | Freelancers | Dennis Larue | 2012-08-10 |
Movie | Ernest & Celestine | Ernest (voice) | 2012-12-12 |
Series | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Sam Cooper | 2011-02-16 |
Movie | Catch.44 | Ronny | 2011-12-08 |
Movie | Serving Life | Narrator | 2011-07-28 |
Movie | A Man's Story | Himself | 2011-10-08 |
Movie | Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life | Lion | 2010-03-02 |
Movie | My Own Love Song | Joey | 2010-04-07 |
Movie | Lullaby for Pi | George | 2010-10-11 |
Movie | Our Family Wedding | Brad Boyd | 2010-03-12 |
Movie | The Experiment | Barris | 2010-07-15 |
Movie | Toys in the Attic | Teddy | 2009-04-04 |
Movie | Powder Blue | Charlie | 2009-05-08 |
Movie | Hurricane Season | Al Collins | 2009-12-08 |
Movie | Where the Wild Things Are | Ira (voice) | 2009-10-16 |
Movie | Crips and Bloods: Made in America | Narrator | 2008-01-01 |
Movie | Dragon Hunters | Lian-Chu (voice) | 2008-03-19 |
Movie | Vantage Point | Howard Lewis | 2008-02-01 |
Movie | Winged Creatures | Charlie Archenault | 2008-06-24 |
Movie | Street Kings | Captain Jack Wander | 2008-04-10 |
Movie | Ripple Effect | Philip | 2007-06-21 |
Movie | The Great Debaters | Dr. James Farmer Sr. | 2007-12-27 |
Movie | The Air I Breathe | Happiness | 2007-02-07 |
Movie | Everyone's Hero | Lonnie Brewster (voice) | 2006-09-15 |
Movie | Even Money | Clyde Snow | 2006-03-01 |
Movie | The Marsh | Geoffrey Hunt | 2006-05-18 |
Movie | American Gun | Carter | 2005-01-01 |
Movie | Mary | Ted Younger | 2005-11-18 |
Series | American Dad! | Unknown | 2005-02-06 |
Series | Criminal Minds | Unknown | 2005-09-22 |
Series | Mahou Sentai Magiranger | Ghost Dog | 2005-02-13 |
Series | Black Jack (JP) | Addie | 2004-10-11 |
Series | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Unknown | 2003-09-08 |
Series | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Unknown | 2003-01-26 |
Movie | Deacons for Defense | Marcus | 2003-01-01 |
Series | American Idol | Unknown | 2002-06-11 |
Series | E! Live From the Red Carpet | Unknown | 2002-01-13 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | 2002-09-18 | |
Movie | Feast of All Saints | Daguerreotypist Picard | 2001-11-11 |
Movie | The Hire: The Follow | 2001-01-01 | |
Movie | The Fourth Angel | Agent Jules Bernard | 2001-08-15 |
Movie | Battlefield Earth | Ker | 2000-05-10 |
Movie | Battlefield Earth: Evolution & Creation | Himself | 2000-05-01 |
Movie | Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows | Himself - Actor / Director | 2000-09-27 |
Series | Arc the Lad | Unknown | 1999-04-05 |
Movie | Witness Protection | Steven Beck | 1999-12-11 |
Movie | Light It Up | Officer Dante Jackson | 1999-11-04 |
Series | The Early Show | Unknown | 1999-11-01 |
Series | Where Are They Now? | Unknown | 1999-06-07 |
Movie | Body Count | Crane | 1998-04-28 |
Movie | Lovers of the Arctic Circle | Unknown | 1998-09-04 |
Series | The View | Unknown | 1997-08-11 |
Movie | Phenomenon | Nate Pope | 1996-07-05 |
Movie | Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault | Mr. Rucker | 1996-01-01 |
Movie | Smoke | Cyrus Cole | 1995-06-09 |
Movie | Species | Dan Smithson, Empath | 1995-07-07 |
Series | Inside the Actors Studio | Unknown | 1994-06-01 |
Movie | Blown Away | Anthony Franklin | 1994-07-01 |
Movie | Jason's Lyric | Maddog | 1994-09-28 |
Movie | Prêt-à-Porter | Cy Bianco | 1994-12-23 |
Series | ER | Unknown | 1994-09-19 |
Movie | The Enemy Within | Colonel MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey | 1994-08-24 |
Series | Chef! | Idi Amin | 1993-03-11 |
Movie | Last Light | Fred Whitmore | 1993-08-22 |
Movie | Lush Life | Buddy Chester | 1993-10-01 |
Movie | Body Snatchers | Major Collins | 1993-06-09 |
Movie | The Crying Game | Jody | 1992-09-02 |
Movie | Consenting Adults | David Duttonville | 1992-10-16 |
Series | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Unknown | 1992-05-25 |
Movie | Diary of a Hitman | Dekker | 1991-11-20 |
Movie | A Rage in Harlem | Jackson | 1991-05-03 |
Movie | Criminal Justice | Jessie Williams | 1990-09-08 |
Movie | Bird | Charlie 'Bird' Parker | 1988-07-01 |
Movie | Bloodsport | Rawlins | 1988-02-26 |
Movie | Stakeout | Det. Jack Pismo | 1987-08-05 |
Movie | Good Morning, Vietnam | Edward Montesque Garlick | 1987-12-23 |
Movie | The Color of Money | Amos | 1986-10-07 |
Movie | Platoon | Big Harold | 1986-12-18 |
Series | North and South | 1985-11-03 | |
Series | Live with Regis and Kathie Lee | Unknown | 1983-04-04 |
Series | Cagney & Lacey | Unknown | 1982-03-25 |
Movie | Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Charles Jefferson | 1982-08-13 |
Series | Hill Street Blues | Unknown | 1981-01-15 |
Movie | A Spiral of Mist | Unknown | 1977-01-01 |
Series | Saturday Night Live | Unknown | 1975-10-11 |
Series | Klimbim | Dennis Curren | 1973-07-24 |
Series | Dad's Army | Unknown | 1968-07-31 |
Series | The Green Hornet | Jake | 1966-09-09 |
Series | Another World | Unknown | 1964-05-04 |
Series | The Big Beat | Unknown | 1957-07-12 |
Series | Today | Unknown | 1952-01-14 |