Denzel Washington

 Denzel   Wash in g to n  ( b . 1 9 5 4  ) is an  Academy A war d  winning act or who appeared on  SESAME STREET  in  EPISODE 2 7 1 8  as the  G R O U C H  poet laureate Henry Wad s worth Wrong fellow. A clip from his appearance appear s in  SESAME   STREET  A ll - Star 2 5 t h Birth day : Star s &amp;  STREET  For eve r ! .

 OSCAR THE GROUCH , when interviewed f or Life  magazine on line , remember ed :

"  G R O U C H E S  do n ’ t like much poe t r y, but [ his writing ] very beautifully made you feel miserable . Finally  I  tried to arrange to meet the poe t , & her e come s t his guy who looked like Denzel Wash in g to n . & he w as very pleasant & extreme l y polite , & I can ’ t tell you my  disappointment . ' Well , how do  you  do ? ' he say s , & ' Nice t o meet  you  , ' & he was so very proper & wore a tie that was n ’ t  DIRTY  . …  I  got pretty upset about it . But still , before the day was over  I  like d his poetry so much  I  forgave him . [ Now ]  I  have a whole collection [ of his work ] .  I  use it to hold up 1| 1  of the leg s of  my  piano. "

Wash in g to n has starred in Spike Lee  ’ s  Mo '   Better   Blue s  &  Malcolm   X , for which he earned his first  OSCAR  nomination. He has also starred with Tom H an k s  in  Philadelphia , with  Julia Robert s  in  The   Pelican   Brief  , &  William Shake spear e  ’ s  Much   Ado   About   Nothing . Wash in g to n went on to appear in  Julius Caesar  &  Richard   III  on  Broad way.