Don Cheadle Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth & Biography

Don Cheadle is an American actor known for a versatile career in film, television and theatre, from Hotel Rwanda, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, to War Machine in the Marvel films. Born on November 29, 1964, in Kansas City, Missouri, Cheadle, 61, is one of the most respected actors of his generation.

Quick Facts

Who Is Don Cheadle?

Don Cheadle is an actor who can play a hero, a villain, a comedian and a dramatic lead, often within the same film. He first reached a wide audience as Mouse Alexander, the friend of Denzel Washington’s character, in Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), a performance that earned him the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he went on to play Sammy, the manager, in Boogie Nights (1997), and a district attorney in Out of Sight (1998).

To a wider audience, Cheadle is best known as Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who saved more than a thousand people during the Rwandan genocide, in Hotel Rwanda (2004), a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and a Golden Globe nomination. He has also played James Rhodes, War Machine, in the Marvel films Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013) and the Avengers films, and Basher Tarr, the explosives expert, in Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and its sequels. He is also a producer, a director and a campaigner, working with the United Nations on climate change and on conflict in Darfur, Sudan.

Early Life & Background

Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bettye, a teacher, and Donald Frank Cheadle Sr., a clinical psychologist. The family moved to Denver, Colorado, when Cheadle was a child, and he attended East High School, where he played the saxophone and became interested in acting. He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre in 1986, and he worked on stage and in small film and television roles.

He made his acting debut on television, playing in the series Fame (1986-1987) and in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), and he appeared in the film Hamburger Hill (1987), in which he played a soldier in the Vietnam War. He worked in Colors (1988) and in Devil in a Blue Dress, which brought him to wide attention. He has said that his background in music and in theatre taught him discipline and versatility, and that it gave him a respect for working with others that has stayed with him throughout his career.

Career

Cheadle’s career in film includes Devil in a Blue Dress, Boogie Nights, Out of Sight, Traffic (2000), in which he played a DEA agent, Ocean’s Eleven, Crash (2004), in which he played a detective, Hotel Rwanda, Talk to Me (2007), in which he played the radio host Ralph Waldo Greene, and the Marvel films, in which he plays War Machine. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Hotel Rwanda, and he has been nominated for the Emmy Award for House of Lies (2012-2016), in which he played Marty Kaan, a management consultant, a role that won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

In recent years, Cheadle has worked in Black Monday (2019-2021), in Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), in which he played Al-G Rhythm, a villain, and in White Noise (2022) and Flight (2012). He has been in a relationship with Bridgid Coulter, an actress and designer, for more than thirty years, and they married in 2020. They have two daughters together, Ayana Tai and Imani. He is known for his humanitarian work, for his support for the United Nations Environment Programme and for his commitment to climate change and to conflict resolution in Africa.

Facts About Don Cheadle

• He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Hotel Rwanda in 2005.
• He plays James Rhodes, War Machine, in the Marvel films, including Iron Man 2 and the Avengers films.
• He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for House of Lies in 2013.
• He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, earning a BFA in theatre in 1986.
• He has been in a relationship with Bridgid Coulter for more than thirty years, and they married in 2020.

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