Who Is Forest Whitaker?
Forest Whitaker, recent winner of a BAFTA, Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland was born in Texas and raised in Los Angeles. Originally a football player (he had to give it up due to injury), he was accepted into a college on a music scholarship and then a drama scholarship. After he graduated, he trained at the California wing of the British conservatoire for actors, the Drama Studio, London. Whitaker has had an amazingly varied career, performing in films as varied as Bloodsport (the film that really put Van Damme on the map), to Ghostdog and in television series such as The Shield and ER. As director he has created Hope Floats, First Daughter and Waiting to Exhale. His 2007 Oscar speech was moving and inspiring, and thankfully short! Whitaker is a black belt in karate and a strict vegetarian.
