Curiosidades

Is one of three African-American actresses (the other being Whoopi Goldberg and Angela Bassett) to be nominated for an Academy Award in both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Is one of five actresses to receive an Oscar nomination for a performance with less than 10 minutes of screen time.

Has an adoptive daughter: Genesis Tennon (b. July 10, 2010) with husband, Julius Tennon.

Is the first black actress to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Como Defender um Assassino (2014).

Is one of 15 actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony all in acting categories). The others in chronological order are Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Rita Moreno, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Anne Bancroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Ellen Burstyn, Helen Mirren, Frances McDormand, Jessica Lange and Glenda Jackson.

As of 2017, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Traffic - Ninguém Sai Limpo (2000), Tão Forte e Tão Perto (2011), Histórias Cruzadas (2011) and Um Limite Entre Nós (2016).

Attended and graduated from Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island (1988), where she majored in theater. She later received an honorary degree in Fine Arts from the college (2002).

Is one of 10 African-American actresses to be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The others in chronological order are Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Gabourey Sidibe and Quvenzhané Wallis.

Daughter of Mae Alice (Logan) and Dan Davis, both originally of South Carolina. Dan was a horse-groomer for the Narragansett and Lincoln Downs racetracks in Rhode Island.

Counts Cicely Tyson's Emmy-winning performance in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) as a pivotal moment in her life when she ultimately understood how acting could be such a transformative craft.

Named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World (2012).

Won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in "Fences" (2010).

As of 2018, she is one of three women who have won both the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (hers being for Um Limite Entre Nós (2016)) and the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy (hers being for Como Defender um Assassino (2014)). The others are Patricia Arquette and Allison Janney.

After her graduation from Rhode Island College, she attended the Juilliard School in New York City for four years, and was a member of the school Drama Division "Group 22" (1989-1993).

Named Glamour magazine's Film Actress of the Year (2012).

In 2017, Davis became the 25th performer (and first African-American actress) to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony). She won the 2001 Best Featured Actress in a Play Tony Award for "King Hedley II" and the 2010 Best Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award for "Fences", the 2015 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy Award for Como Defender um Assassino (2014), and the 2017 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Um Limite Entre Nós (2016).

With her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Um Limite Entre Nós (2016), Viola Davis became the first black woman to have won a Tony, an Emmy, and an Oscar for acting. Whoopi Goldberg not only has all three awards; she also has a Grammy (making her one of the few "EGOT" honorees, someone who has won all four awards)--but Goldberg won her Tony Award for producing the Broadway show "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1999-2003).

Inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on June 30, 2009.

Won Broadway's 2001 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for August Wilson's "King Hedley II". She had previously been nominated in the same category in 1996 for another Wilson play, "Seven Guitars".

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on January 5, 2017.

Is one of seven African-American actresses to have won an acting Oscar in a competitive category. The others in chronological order are Hattie McDaniel for ...E o Vento Levou (1939), Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost: Do Outro Lado da Vida (1990), Halle Berry for A Última Ceia (2001), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls: Em Busca de um Sonho (2006), Mo'Nique for Preciosa: Uma História de Esperança (2009) and Octavia Spencer for Histórias Cruzadas (2011).

Given the choice, she prefers the stage to film acting.

Is one of only nine actors to have won both the Tony and the Oscar for the same role on stage and film. The others are Yul Brynner (O Rei e Eu (1956)), Rex Harrison (Minha Bela Dama (1964)), Anne Bancroft (O Milagre de Anne Sullivan (1962)), Joel Grey (Cabaret (1972)), Paul Scofield (O Homem que Não Vendeu sua Alma (1966)), Shirley Booth (A Cruz da Minha Vida (1952)), Jack Albertson (A História de Três Estranhos (1968)) and José Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)).

Shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's 2016 Hollywood issue with, Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Saoirse Ronan. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

Viola Davis won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the role of Rose Maxon in "Fences" (in the 2010 Broadway revival of the play and the 2016 film adaptation, respectively). In the original 1987 Broadway production of the play, the role of Rose was originated by the actress Mary Alice--which was also the name of Viola Davis's mother.

She was the first black woman to receive three Academy Award nominations. Octavia Spencer (in 2017, also for acting) and Ruth E. Carter (in 2018, for costume design) followed.

In 2012, Davis told Entertainment Weekly that she and her husband stayed at George Clooney's Italian estate on Lake Como for their honeymoon.

Grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Her family moved there when she was 2-months old.

As of 2021, she is the most nominated black actress in Academy Awards' history, with 4 nominations. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Dúvida (2008), Best Leading Actress in Histórias Cruzadas (2011), Best Supporting Actress in Um Limite Entre Nós (2016) and Best Actress in A Voz Suprema do Blues (2020). She has won for Um Limite Entre Nós (2016).

Won the 2005 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Intimate Apparel" (2004).

Returned to work 4 months after adopting her daughter Genesis to begin filming Ender's Game: O Jogo do Exterminador (2013).

"JuVee Productions" is the company she heads with husband Julius Ju(lius)V(iola).

She was awarded the 2004 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for "Intimate Apparel" in association with Roundabout Theatre Company production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Friends with Octavia Spencer Meryl Streep, and Denzel Washington.

Oprah Winfrey and beau Stedman Graham attended her 'third' marriage to Julius.

She was awarded the 2004 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lead Performance for "Intimate Apparel" in association with Roundabout Theatre Company production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

She was awarded for a 2001 New York Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for "King Hedley II" on Broadway in New York City.

She was awarded for the 2004 Back Stage Garland Award for Outstanding Performance for "Intimate Apparel" in association with Roundabout Theatre Company production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

In 2023, she won the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for her autobiography 'Finding Me'. This achievement made her the 18th person to achieve EGOT status. Additionally, she is one of three thespians to have achieved both the Triple Crown of Acting and the EGOT, the others being Helen Hayes and Rita Moreno.

She was awarded the 1996 Drama Logue Award for Performance for "Seven Guitars" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

She was awarded for a 2001 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for "King Hedley II" on Broadway in New York City.

She was nominated for the 1996 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for "Seven Guitars" on Broadway in New York City.

One of only 18 individuals who are "EGOT"s, meaning having received at least one of all of the four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, competitively. The other recipients are Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, Robert Lopez, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, John Legend, Alan Menken and Jennifer Hudson. Five others (including Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, James Earl Jones, Harry Belafonte and Quincy Jones) have won three of the four awards competitively and received an honorary fourth and thus do not, strictly speaking, qualify.

Though she earned an Oscar nomination for it, she said in an NYT interview that she regrets doing the role of Aibileen Clark in The Help.

She was awarded for a 2001 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for "King Hedley II" on Broadway in New York City.

Second cousin of Mike Colter. Her maternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother were siblings.

Viola Davis is the tenth performer to win the Tony Award and the Oscar for the same role, winning for "Fences" (Tony in 2010, Oscar in 2017). The others chronologically are Jose Ferrer, Shirley Booth, Yul Brynner, Rex Harrison, Anne Bancroft, Paul Scofield, Jack Albertson, and Joel Grey. All nine won their Tony first, then their Oscar. The 10th, Lila Kedrova, won her Oscar first (1964), then her Tony (1984), for "Zorba, the Greek".

Was the 147th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Um Limite Entre Nós (2016) at Cerimônia do Oscar 2017 (2017) on February 26, 2017.

Has a sister Deloris.

Sister of Diane Davis, Anita Davis, Danielle Davis, and John Davis.