Born on November 29, 1964 in Kansas City, Missouri, Don Cheadle is an Academy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor best known for his roles in Out of Sight, Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven, and the lead in the film Hotel Rwanda where he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a leading role. The son of a bank manager and a clinical psychologist, Cheadle gradated from East High School in Denver, Colorado in 1982. He went on to attend the California Institute of the Arts.
Don Cheadle began his career in the entertainment industry in the 1987 war film Hamburger Hill. He also appeared in an episode of Night Court in 1988, playing the role of a 16-year-old, despite being already 24 at that time. His big break came the following year with the movie Colors. In 1989, he appeared in an Angela Winbush music video for “It’s The Real Thing.” He also starred in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Golden Palace, the spin-off to Golden Girls.
Cheadle received critical acclaim for Devil in a Blue Dress, where he won Best Supporting Actor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and was even nominated for its Screen Actors Guild counterpart. He then had recurring roles on the TV series Picket Fences, before appearing in a string of movies, including Rosewood, The Family Man, Boogie Nights, Out of Sight, Traffic, and eventually, the star-studded Ocean’s Eleven. In 2005, his memorable role in Hotel Rwanda earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. The same year, the film he produced and also starred in, Crash, won best picture. Cheadle’s directorial debut came with Tishomingo Blues. He is also a perennial personality in the Super Bowl commercials up to 2005.
Cheadle admitted that he wanted to lessen his work load to spend more time with his family, even just until his children turned 18.