A star of Denzel Washington's caliber needs no introduction; everyone has likely seen at least one of his movies–some, however, have definitely aged better than others. Having taken up acting at the age of 23, Washington had to suffer through a few cinematic disasters until better and richer roles came his way. After landing a role on NBC's medical drama St. Elsewhere in 1982, he finally had a major breakthrough, which was quickly followed by his Oscar-nominated performance as anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom in 1987, and it was only the beginning.
