Isaiah Washington

Fun Facts: Before becoming a well known actor, Washington served on the United States Air Force and attended Howard University studying theatre arts.

Claim to Fame: Washington is best known for his role on “Grey Anatomy,” but he has also been in a number of films including “Love Jones” (1997), “Mixing Nia” (1998) and “Romeo Must Die” (2000).

Isaiah Washington IV is an NAACP Image Award- and Screen Actors Guild-winning American actor. A veteran of several Spike Lee films, Washington is best known for his role as Dr. Preston Burke on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.


Washington was born in Houston, Texas, where his parents were residents in the Houston Heights community. His parents relocated to Missouri City, Texas around 1980, where he was one of the first graduates from Willowridge High School, Houston, in 1981. Washington revealed in an interview with Star Jones that his father, after whom he was named, was murdered when he was 13 years old. Washington went on to serve in the United States Air Force and attended Howard University. Washington married Jenisa Marie Washington on February 14, 1999. The couple have three children



In 2005, Washington originated the role of gifted cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Preston Burke on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. His portrayal earned him two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was paired onscreen with Sandra Oh, who plays intern Dr. Cristina Yang. Washington had originally auditioned for the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd, which ultimately went to Patrick Dempsey. Burke had originally been described as a nebbishy, stout forty-something man. For his portrayal of Dr. Burke, Isaiah was honored by TV Guide Magazine as one of "TV's Sexiest Men" in June 2006, and was named one TV's sexiest doctors in June 2008 on TV Guides television channel. Prior to the TV Guide honor, Isaiah was named as one of Peoples "50 Beautiful People" in May 2006.


In the show's third season, Washington became a central figure in widely-reported backstage controversy. In October 2006, news reports surfaced that Washington had grabbed co-star Patrick Dempsey by the throat during an argument and called costar T.R. Knight a "faggot". Shortly after the details of the argument became public, Knight publicly disclosed that he was gay. The situation seemed somewhat resolved when Washington issued a statement, apologizing for his "unfortunate use of words during the recent incident on-set."

(read more @ wikipedia.org)