Whitaker, Forest (1961-…), is an American actor known for his versatility in character roles. He won an Academy Award as best actor for his performance as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada in the motion picture The Last King of Scotland (2006). Whitaker also received many awards for his performance as the American musician Charlie Parker in the movie Bird (1988).
Forest Steven Whitaker was born on July 15, 1961, in Longview, Texas, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. He attended California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, on a football scholarship. However, he left the school after injuring his back. Whitaker then enrolled in the Music Conservatory at the University of Southern California (USC) to study opera as a tenor. He eventually moved to the university’s Drama Conservatory, graduating from USC in 1982.
Whitaker made his debut as a motion-picture actor in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Since then, he has acted in many other movies, including The Color of Money and Platoon (both 1986); Good Morning, Vietnam (1987); A Rage in Harlem (1991); The Crying Game (1992); Ready-to-Wear (1994); Phenomenon (1996); Light It Up (1999); Phone Booth (2002); The Great Debaters (2007); Vantage Point (2008); and Repo Men (2010). Whitaker’s later films include Black Nativity and Lee Daniels’ The Butler (both 2013); Repentance (2014); Southpaw (2015); Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016); Black Panther (2018); and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020). He provided the voice of a bear in the English-language version of the French-Belgian animated movie Ernest & Celestine (2012). Whitaker also has starred in television series and miniseries, including “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” (2011), “Roots” (2016), and “Godfather of Harlem,” which began in 2019.
In addition to acting, Whitaker has directed a number of movies and music videos. His movie-director credits include Waiting to Exhale (1995), Hope Floats (1998), and First Daughter (2004), among others.
