Washington has received ten Academy Award nominations winning once for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a soldier in the Edward Zwick Civil War film Glory (1989), and Best Actor for playing a corrupt cop in Antoine Fuqua's crime thriller Training Day (2001).

2000s, '10s and '20s), joining Laurence Olivier, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Meryl Streep and Frances McDormand.

He has received nine Golden Globe Award nominations winning twice for his performances in Glory (1989) and The Hurricane (1999).

He received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work with documentary series on the baseball player Hank Aaron and photographer Gordon Parks.

He was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for the folk tale, John Henry in 1996.