Viola Davis

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Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress. Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II (2001). She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in the 2010 production of Fences. She won a second Drama Desk Award for Intimate Apparel (2004).

Her films include Traffic (2000), Antwone Fisher (2002), and Solaris (2002). Her eight-minute-long performance in the film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt (2008) garnered several honors, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Early life

Davis was born on her grandmother's farm in St. Matthews, South Carolina, the daughter of Mary and Dan Davis. Her family moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island when she was two months old.

Viola Davis credits in part her involvement in the arts at her Alma mater, Central Falls High school for her love of stage acting.

Davis majored in theatre at Rhode Island College, graduating in 1988; in 2002 she received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the college., from the website of Rhode Island...
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