Don Cheadle Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Childhood And Early Life

American actor Don Cheadle was born Donald Frank Cheadle on the 29 November 1964 to Bettye North and Donald Cheadle in Kansas City, Missouri. His father was a psychologist and his mother a school teacher. He was one of three children. He has a brother Colin and a sister Cindy.

Education

Don Cheadle completed his high school education at East High School in Denver, Colorado. He then enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts where he obtained a BA in Fine Arts.

Rise To Fame

Early roles included acting in the television series Fame (1982), Colors (1988) and Hamburger Hill (1987) and Picket Fences (1993-1995). Don Cheadle won an Emmy nomination for his role in A Lesson Before Dying (1993), and his breakthrough role came in the film Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) which starred Denzel Washington and Jennifer Beal.

Career

Other works include Boogie Nights (1997), The Rat Pack (1998), Traffic (2000) and Things Behind the Sun (2001) and the television drama ER (1994-2009). Recent work includes House of Lies (2012-2017), Captain America (2016), Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Don Cheadle has continued working in film and on television as an actor, director, writer, and producer.

Awards And Achievements

From 1995 onwards Don Cheadle has received numerous awards and nominations. Awards he has won include the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for The Rat Pack, the 1999 Satellite Award for Best Actor for A Lesson Before Dying, in 2004 he won another Satellite Award for Best Actor for his role in Hotel Rwanda. His performance in the film also won him an Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.  In 2005, Crash, which Don Cheadle produced, won an Academy Award for Best Picture. And in 2012, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for House of Lies.

Personal Life

Don Cheadle’s partner is Bridgid Coulter, and they have two children.

Philanthropic Works / Humanitarian Work

His humanitarian work was recognized in 2007 when Don Cheadle was awarded the BET Humanitarian Award for his work in Darfur and Rwanda. He is also a climate change activist.