With a resume that’s as varied and expansive as it is rich in depth of the characters he brings to life, Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle is, without question, one of the most highly sought-after and premier actors of his generation.
Most recently,he starred as Marty Kaan on the critically acclaimed Showtime series House of Lies. The series earned multiple nominations for the series and Cheadle himself, including four Emmy nominations, an NAACP Image Award, and five additional NAACP Image Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award, two additional Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG Award nomination. In addition to starring, Cheadle was also executive producer of the series and also stepped behind the camera as director.
Cheadle is well known for his passionate performances on stage and screen. Stemming from his breakout performance opposite Denzel Washington in Devil in a Blue Dress, Cheadle was named Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics. In 2014, he produced the feature St. Vincent, which starred Bill Murray and Naomi Watts for which Murray received a Golden Globe Award nomination.
For his work on television, Cheadle received a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for his remarkable portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO’s The Rat Pack in 1999. That same year, he received an Emmy nomination for his starring role in HBO’s adaptation of the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. He also starred in HBO’s Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault, directed by Eriq La Salle.
An accomplished stage actor, Cheadle originated the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog at New York’s Public Theater. Cheadle was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration/dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel Fear Itself.
His philanthropic work includes serving as a UN Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. Cheadle also produced the documentary film, Darfur Now, an examination of the genocide in Sudan’s western region of Darfur and, in 2007, he and George Clooney were recognized for their work for Darfur. The pair shared a Peace Summit Award at the 8th Annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome.
