Author: Suren Prasad
Forest Whitaker has an estimated net worth of £10 million.
Born on July 15, 1961 in Texas, Forest Whitaker graduated in 1982 from USC’s Drama Conservatory and debuted onscreen in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
Whitaker’s many TV shows in the 1980s included Diff’rent Strokes (1985) and Amazing Stories (1985). During the 1990s, he appeared in a number of TV films including The Enemy Within, Criminal Justice, and Witness Protection.
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In 1986, he was cast in The Color of Money and Platoon, later co-starring in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987).
After co-starring in Bloodsport (1988) he landed his first lead role in Clint Eastwood’s Bird, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and was awarded Best Actor at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.
Whitaker participates in intensive character study work in preparation for his roles. As a captive British soldier in The Crying Game (1992), he spoke with an utterly convincing English accent. For his role in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), he took to meditation while studying Eastern philosophy. In 2002, he co-starred in the major box office thrillers Phone Booth and Panic Room.
Whitaker’s career highlight was playing Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006). True to the role, Whitaker added 50 pounds, carried out in-depth research about the dictator and learnt to play the accordion along with speaking Swahili in Amin’s accent. For his superlative performance, he became the fourth ever African-American actor to receive the Oscar for Best Actor and one of just eight actors to have won the Oscar, SAG, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards for the same movie.
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In 2008, Whitaker acted in The Air I Breathe, Street Kings and Vantage Point. After a lull in his career, Whitaker revived with a lead role in The Butler (2013). That same year he also appeared in Black Nativity and The Last Stand.
The FX series The Shield (2006) marked his successful return to TV and a subsequent multi-episode spell on ER garnered him a 2007 Emmy nomination.
Whitaker is also a film director, debuting with HBO’s Strapped (1993), followed by Waiting to Exhale (1995), Hope Floats (1998) and First Daughter (2004). Earlier, he also acted as Executive Producer on the 2002 Emmy winner Door to Door. Whitaker was also co-producer for Fruitvale Station, which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for US Dramatic Film at the Sundance Film Festival 2013.
The accomplished actor’s net worth rose to an estimated $36,363,637 in 2014. Since March 2012, he has been co-chair of JuntoBox Films, a social-media platform for fans and filmmakers to create films together.
While Whitaker earns a reported $4,848,485 yearly, his total 2015 net worth is estimated at $40,000,000.
