Don Cheadle

Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor.

He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

He has also earned nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards.

His Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony nominations make him one of few black individuals to be nominated for the four major American entertainment awards (EGOT).

He attended Hartley Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1970 to 1974.

Cheadle graduated in 1982 from East High School in Denver, Colorado.

During high school, he played saxophone in the jazz band, sang in choirs, and was active in the theater department, performing in musicals, plays, and mime shows.

Cheadle became eligible for his Screen Actors Guild card when he appeared as a burger joint employee in the 1985 comedy Moving Violations.

Cheadle went on to attend the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater in 1986.

Following early roles in Hamburger Hill (1987), and as the gangster "Rocket" in the film Colors (1988), Cheadle built his career in the 1990s with roles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996), Rosewood (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), and Bulworth (1998).

In 1987, he received a small role in the 7th season of Hill Street Blues, where he played a teenager with learning difficulties.

This was followed by an appearance in Hamburger Hill the same year.

His television work includes appearances in Night Court (1988), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Booker (1990), Picket Fences (1993–1995), The Bernie Mac Show (2002), ER (2002), and as Marty Kaan in House of Lies (2012–2016) for which he won a Golden Globe Award in 2013 and four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Cheadle secured the role of Jack in the April 1, 1988, "Jung and the Restless" episode of Night Court; although his character was 16 years old, Cheadle was 23 at the time.

Cheadle then played the role of Rocket in the 1988 movie Colors.

In 1989, he appeared in a music video for Angela Winbush's number-two hit single "It's the Real Thing" as a car wash employee performing dance moves.

In 1990, he appeared in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled "Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy", playing Will Smith's friend and Hilary's first love interest, Ice Tray.

In 1992, he had a starring role in The Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace as Roland Wilson, a young serious hotel manager that Blanche, Rose and Sophia had retained from the previous owners.

He subsequently played district attorney John Littleton on three seasons of Picket Fences.

Cheadle first received widespread notice for his portrayal of Mouse Alexander in the 1995 film Devil in a Blue Dress, for which he won Best Supporting Actor awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics and earned nominations for similar awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the NAACP Image Awards.

Following soon thereafter was his performance in the title role of the 1996 HBO TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault.

The film was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name and the first of Cheadle's many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh.

In 1997, he starred in John Singleton's historical drama Rosewood and in the disaster film Volcano.

In the same year, he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's period drama Boogie Nights.

The following year, he appeared in Out of Sight.

His collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh resulted in the films Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000), The Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007), and No Sudden Move (2021).

Cheadle's portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack won him a Golden Globe Award and earned him an Emmy nomination.

A year later he starred as Grant Wiggins, a school teacher in the film A Lesson Before Dying, which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.

It was based on the novel of the same name by Ernest J. Gaines.

He had two major film roles in 2000, starring as Montel Gordon, a DEA agent in Traffic and as Luke Graham in the sci-fi film Mission to Mars.

Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the historical drama film Hotel Rwanda (2004).

He was the co-producer of Crash, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2005.

Cheadle extended his global recognition with his role as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning with Iron Man 2 (2010), and garnered a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his guest appearance as the character in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).

He will lead the film Armor Wars as part of the franchise.

In 2016, he received his first Grammy Award, winning Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the soundtrack Miles Ahead.

In 2022, he received a second Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration of the audiobook Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis; he also received a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop.

Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Bettye Cheadle (née North), a teacher, and Donald Frank Cheadle Sr., a clinical psychologist.

He has a sister, Cindy, and a brother, Colin.

His family moved from city to city throughout his childhood.

From 2019 to 2021, Cheadle starred in the series Black Monday, earning two Emmy Award nominations.