Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of th ... e greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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| Organization | Category | Movie | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Globes | Best Supporting Actress | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men' | Nominated |
| Golden Globes | Best Supporting Actress | Fishing in the Moonlight | Won |
| Golden Globes | Best Actress | The Help | Nominated |
| Spirit Awards | Best Actor | Timecode | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Actress | The Help | Nominated |
| SAG Awards | Best Actress | The Help | Won |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Actress | Widows | Nominated |
| SAG Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Fences | Nominated |
| SAG Awards | Best Actress | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Nominated |
| SAG Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Won |
| Golden Globes | Best Actress | The Woman King | Won |
How to Get Away with Murder
as Annalise Keating
Episodes: 90
First Aired: Sep 25, 2014
City of Angels
as Lynnette Peeler
Episodes: 25
First Aired: Jan 16, 2000
The First Lady
as Michelle Obama
Episodes: 10
First Aired: Apr 17, 2022
Traveler
as Agent Jan Marlow
Episodes: 8
First Aired: May 10, 2007
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
as Donna Emmett
Episodes: 7
First Aired: Sep 20, 1999
Creature Commandos
as Amanda Waller (voice)
Episodes: 4
First Aired: Dec 05, 2024
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Attorney Campbell
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 06, 2000
The Andromeda Strain
as Dr. Charlene Barton
Episodes: 2
First Aired: May 26, 2008
Peacemaker
as Amanda Waller (uncredited)
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Jan 13, 2022
Third Watch
as Margo Rodriguez
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 23, 1999
Providence
as Dr. Eleanor Weiss
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 08, 1999
Judging Amy
as Celeste
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 19, 1999
Without a Trace
as Audrey Williams
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 26, 2002
NYPD Blue
as Woman
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1993
The Practice
as Aisha Crenshaw
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 04, 1997
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Rosemary Allbright
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Dec 24, 1951
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
as Sergeant Terry Randolph
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 30, 2001
Brothers and Sisters
as Ellen Snyder
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 24, 2006
Waller
as Amanda Waller
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Unknown
Honest Trailers
as Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Feb 13, 2012
Scandal
as Annalise Keating
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Apr 05, 2012
Hack
as Stevie Morgan
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 27, 2002
Century City
Episodes: 9
First Aired: Mar 16, 2004
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
Episodes: 4
First Aired: Dec 21, 2014
The View
as Self - Guest
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Aug 11, 1997
The Jennifer Hudson Show
as Self
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Sep 12, 2022
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self - Guest
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Feb 17, 2014
Threshold
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 16, 2005
The Division
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 07, 2001
60 Minutes
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 24, 1968
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 08, 2015
United States of Tara
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 18, 2009
E! Live from the Red Carpet
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 13, 2002
The Oscars
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 19, 1953
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Apr 01, 1956
C ce soir, le débat
as Self - Guest
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 25, 2021
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 26, 2003
The Problem with Jon Stewart
as Self (archive footage)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 30, 2021
Dear...
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jun 05, 2020
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self - Guest
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 08, 2015
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Feb 17, 2014
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Aug 02, 2015
The View
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Aug 11, 1997
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jul 16, 2009
Hot Ones
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 12, 2015
Celebrity IOU
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Apr 13, 2020
The Graham Norton Show
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Feb 22, 2007
Father Lefty
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Unknown
CBS News Sunday Morning
as Self
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 28, 1979
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
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| 2024 | 5 | 26 | 36 | 16 |
| 2024 | 6 | 23 | 54 | 14 |
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| 2024 | 8 | 29 | 57 | 14 |
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| 2024 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 10 |
| 2024 | 12 | 17 | 28 | 11 |
| 2025 | 1 | 26 | 40 | 15 |
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| 2025 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 0 |
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| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Trending Rank
| Year | Month | Avg Rank | Max Rank |
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| 2024 | 5 | 442 | 44 |
| 2024 | 6 | 521 | 94 |
| 2024 | 12 | 803 | 673 |
| 2025 | 1 | 911 | 800 |
| 2025 | 2 | 732 | 446 |
| 2025 | 3 | 433 | 129 |
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| 2025 | 7 | 562 | 168 |
| 2025 | 8 | 310 | 29 |