Isaiah Washington

Isaiah Washington IV is an American actor and film producer.

His parents moved to Missouri City, Texas around 1980, where he was one of the first graduates from Willowridge High School, Houston, in 1981.

Washington revealed in an interview with Star Jones that his father, after whom he was named, was murdered when he was 13 years old.

He joined the United States Air Force when he was 19 years old, where he worked on the Northrop T-38 Talon.

His first assignment was at Clark Air Base in the Philippines followed by two years at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

After serving in the Air Force, he attended Howard University.

Washington made his feature film debut in 1991's Strictly Business before engaging in a string of collaborations with director Spike Lee.

Washington began his career collaborating with director Spike Lee on the films Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), Girl 6 (1996), and Get on the Bus (1996).

Between 1994 and 1996, Washington appeared in Lee's films Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, and Get on the Bus.

He also had roles in the films Stonewall, Dead Presidents, Love Jones, Out of Sight, Bulworth, True Crime, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Hollywood Homicide, and Wild Things 2.

He also appeared in the films Love Jones (1997), Bulworth (1998), Out of Sight (1998), True Crime (1999), Romeo Must Die (2000), Exit Wounds (2001), Ghost Ship (2002), and Hollywood Homicide (2003).

Following a series of film appearances, he came to prominence for portraying Dr. Preston Burke in the first three seasons of the series Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2007.

In 2005, Washington landed his breakthrough role as Preston Burke on Grey's Anatomy.

In 2005, Washington originated the role of gifted cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Preston Burke on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

His portrayal earned him two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award.

He was paired onscreen with Sandra Oh, who plays intern Cristina Yang.

Washington had originally auditioned for the role of Derek Shepherd, which ultimately went to Patrick Dempsey.

Burke had originally been described as a nebbishy, stout forty-something man.

For his portrayal of Burke, Isaiah was honored by TV Guide as one of "TV's Sexiest Men" in June 2006, and was named one of TV's sexiest doctors in June 2008 on TV Guides television channel.

Prior to the TV Guide honor, Isaiah was named as one of Peoples "50 Beautiful People" in May 2006.

In October 2006, rumors surfaced that Washington allegedly insulted co-star T. R. Knight with a homophobic slur while arguing with Patrick Dempsey.

Knight was not on the set at the time.

Shortly after the details of the argument became public, Knight publicly disclosed that he was gay.

There were rumors that Knight was going to be outed by the media.

The situation seemed somewhat resolved when Washington issued a statement, apologizing for his "unfortunate use of words during the recent incident on-set".

While being interviewed on the red carpet at the Golden Globes in January 2007, Washington joked, "I love gay. I wanted to be gay. Please let me be gay".

After the show won Best Drama, Washington, in response to press queries as to any conflicts backstage, said, "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot".

However, in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Knight said that "everybody heard him".

After being rebuked by his studio, Touchstone Television (now ABC Studios), Washington issued a statement apologizing at length for using the epithet in an argument with Patrick Dempsey.

On January 30, 2007, a source told People magazine that Washington was scheduled to return to the Grey's Anatomy set as early as that Thursday for the first time since entering "executive counseling" after making the comments at the Golden Globes.

However, on June 7, 2007, ABC announced it had decided not to renew Washington's contract, and that he would be dropped from the show.

He was dismissed after the third season due to his usage of a homophobic slur while referring to a cast member, T. R. Knight, although he would return for a guest appearance in 2014.

From 2014 to 2018, Washington portrayed Thelonious Jaha on The CW's science fiction television series The 100.

On March 6, 2014, ABC announced that Washington would be returning to the show in a guest appearance as Burke.

He returned in season 10, which served as part of a farewell storyline for Sandra Oh's character, Cristina Yang.

The characters had been previously engaged to be married.

In the show's third season, Washington became a central figure in a widely reported backstage controversy.

In 2020, Washington became the host of a travel cooking show on Fox Nation.

In 2022, he made his directional debut with the Western film Corsicana (2022).

Washington was born in Houston, Texas, where his parents were residents in the Houston Heights community.