Forest Whitaker

Born in Texas but raised in Southern California, Forest Whitaker initially attended college on a football scholarship but then transferred to USC to focus on classical voice and opera. His strong tenor won Whitaker roles in several local stage productions and a move to New York and Broadway seemed to be the next logical career step. But that all changed when Whitaker landed his first recognizable film role as a linebacker in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High . Strong supporting parts followed… Show more in top Hollywood movies ( Platoon, The Color of Money, Good Morning, Vietnam ) but it was his role in Clint Eastwood's 1988 Bird, a biopic of legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, that cemented Whitaker's reputation as a legitimate actor with a wide range. During the 1990s Whitaker branched out into directing ( Waiting to Exhale ) and producing ( A Rage in Harlem ) while he kept up his jam-packed acting schedule with memorable appearances in such diverse films as Neil Jordan's The Crying Game, Robert Altman's Ready to Wear and Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai . The new century saw Whitaker continue to expand his artistic horizons. For TV, he executive produced the Emmy-winning Door to Door, hosted a Twilight Zone reboot and gave a critically lauded performance as an Internal Affairs cop on the fifth season of The Shield . But the highlight of the decade was his Oscar-winning turn as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland . Whitaker, who has a black belt in karate, showed off his expert moves in the 2010 sci-fi flick Repo Men and signed on for a  Criminal Minds spin-off ( Minds 2.0 ) for the 2010-11 television season. Whitaker, married to Keisha Nash since 1996, is father to four children. ~ Rovi

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