Summary
- Denzel Washington’s success was propelled by his impressive talent showcased on
St. Elsewhere
, where he learned and grew alongside a talented ensemble cast. - Washington’s role as Dr. Phillip Chandler in the medical drama series allowed him to transition smoothly into feature films while maintaining visibility.
- While some of his early films didn’t gain much traction, Washington’s compelling screen presence and potential for greatness were evident from the start.
Denzel Washington was 22 when he made his screen acting debut in the 1977 NBC made-for-television film Wilma, in which he plays Robert Eldridge, the 18-year-old high school sweetheart of American track sprinter Wilma Rudolph. The actor was 26 when he made his feature film acting debut in the 1981 comedy-drama film Carbon Copy, in which Washington plays Roger Porter, the 17-year-old secret Black son of a rich white corporate executive, played by George Segal.
However, Washington’s breakthrough role, in terms of the public consciousness, came in the medical drama television series St. Elsewhere, which debuted on NBC on October 26, 1982. As Dr. Phillip Chandler, Washington, over the course of the show’s entire six-season run, demonstrated impressive dramatic range and undeniable power within a deep and talented ensemble cast.
During Washington’s run on St. Elsewhere, the actor appeared in several feature films, including the 1987 film Cry Freedom, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for his performance as anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. Washington attended the 1988 Academy Awards ceremony as a first-time nominee for Cry Freedom approximately five weeks before his final appearance on St. Elsewhere first aired on NBC. That would be the final time he would appear on television in a live-action role.
St. Elsewhere Was an Excellent Training Ground for Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington said that one of the benefits of appearing in St. Elsewhere was that the show’s large ensemble cast, led by William Daniels, Ed Flanders, and Norman Lloyd, enabled him to thrive within the show without being overly defined by it. The show’s ensemble format also gave him ample time to pursue feature film roles. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor said:
I remember early on my agent talked to me about not getting caught up in television. She convinced me not to do
The Jeffersons
, which I’d read for. But
St. Elsewhere
had so many characters, you could get sort of lost in the sauce and be able to sneak out and do films.
St. Elsewhere takes place in and around the fictional St. Eligius Hospital, a badly aging Boston teaching hospital, where senior doctors teach interns how to make critical life and medical decisions. The show’s title is a sarcastic reference to the hospital’s dismal reputation for being a dumping ground.
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Washington’s character, Dr. Phillip Chandler, was a history major at Yale University who intended to become a history professor before turning to a career in medicine at his father’s urging. Motivated and talented, Chandler’s absolute confidence in his skills as a doctor sometimes appears arrogant to his colleagues. While Harmon, who joined the show in its second season, has described the set of St. Elsewhere as being an environment in which he was surrounded by acting teachers, Washington has described St. Elsewhere as being a great show that provided him with the momentum and visibility to achieve his lofty career goals.
Television Isn’t Big Enough to Hold Washington
Denzel Washington wasn’t the only member of the St. Elsewhere cast who aspired to achieve film stardom during the show’s run. Howie Mandel, who played Dr. Wayne Fiscus throughout the show’s six-season run, starred in the 1986 comedy film A Fine Mess and the 1987 comedy Walk Like a Man, both of which were box-office failures. After Mark Harmon left St. Elsewhere in 1986, Harmon, who was named the sexiest man alive by People magazine in 1986, embarked on a feature film career, beginning with the 1987 comedy film Summer School. However, following the box-office failures of The Presidio, Stealing Home, and Worth Winning, Harmon returned to episodic television in 1991 with the police drama television series Reasonable Doubts. By this time, Washington was an Academy Award winner.
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Following the debut of St. Elsewhere, Washington made his first feature film appearance in the mystery drama film A Soldier’s Story, in which he plays Private First Class Melvin Peterson, a role that the actor originated in the off-Broadway play A Soldier’s Play, who is suspected in the murder of a Black master sergeant on a segregated Army base in Louisiana. While A Soldier’s Story was intended to be a starring vehicle for Howard E. Rollins Jr., who plays the Black JAG officer assigned to investigate the murder, Rollins is thoroughly upstaged in the film by Washington, for whom A Soldier’s Story marked his first collaboration with director Norman Jewison, who later directed Washington in the 1999 biographical sports drama film The Hurricane, for which he received his fourth Academy Award nomination.
Washington Ascended From St. Elsewhere to Become Hollywood Royalty
Unlike many television actors, like George Clooney, who leave the television shows that launched their careers early to pursue feature film careers, Denzel Washington remained with St. Elsewhere until the end of its run, minus the show’s final episode, for which he is credited but doesn’t appear. By the time Washington’s final episode of St. Elsewhere first aired on NBC, he had completed work on his next feature film and first starring film vehicle, the 1988 crime drama film For Queen and Country, in which the actor, sporting a cockney accent, plays a former British paratrooper who, after returning home after fighting in the Falklands War, struggles to adjust to normal life.
While For Queen and Country and Washington’s next film, the great 1989 thriller film The Mighty Quinn, failed to attract a wide audience, these films and performances demonstrate that he already possessed a compelling screen presence and was poised for not only major film stardom but also greatness, which was first realized with his magnetic Oscar-winning performance in the 1989 historical drama film Glory. While Washington’s appearance in St. Elsewhere has been increasingly forgotten over the past 35 years, overwhelmed by the enduring popularity and presence of so many of his films, St. Elsewhere represents an important footnote in Washington’s glorious career, in which he has established himself as being one of the greatest actors of his generation, if not all time. All six seasons of St. Elsewhere are currently streaming on Hulu.
