Jeffrey Wright

About Jeffrey Wright

Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American multiple award-winning film and stage actor.

Wright was born in Washington, D.C. to a mother who worked as a customs lawyer. He graduated from St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) and attended Amherst College, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science and planning to continue on to law school; however, he decided to study acting instead. After receiving an acting scholarship from New York University and attending the school for two months, he decided to leave and become a full time actor.

Jeffrey Wright began appearing off-Broadway in New York City and Washington, D.C., and in 1990 appeared in his first major film as an attorney in Presumed Innocent, which starred Harrison Ford. In 1991, Wright joined John Houseman's national touring repertory company The Acting Company with productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Athol Fugard's Blood Knot. Wright continued with his stage performances and in 1994 was cast as Norman 'Belize' Arriaga in Tony Kushner's award-winning play Angels in America. His portrayal of a gay nurse forced to take care of a homophobic Roy Cohn as he lay dying from AIDS won him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.