Early years and education Cheadle was born on November 29, 1964, in
Kansas City, Missouri. His mother is Bettye Cheadle (née North), a teacher, and his father is Donald Frank Cheadle Sr., a
clinical psychologist. Cheadle graduated in 1982 from
East High School in
Denver,
Colorado. During high school, he played saxophone in the jazz band, sang in choirs, and was active in the theater department, performing in musicals, plays, and mime shows. Cheadle went on to attend the
California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater in 1986.
1984–1992: Early roles and theatre work During his time at CalArts, Cheadle along with his friends acted in numerous plays such as
Athol Fugard's
"Master Harold"...and the Boys,
The Island; and
My Name Could Be Anne in the
black box theater. Cheadle became eligible for his
Screen Actors Guild card when he appeared as a burger joint employee in the 1985 comedy
Moving Violations. In 1987, he received a small role in the 7th season of
Hill Street Blues, where he played a teenager with learning difficulties. This was followed by an appearance in
Hamburger Hill the same year. Cheadle secured the role of Jack in the April 1, 1988, "Jung and the Restless" episode of
Night Court; although his character was 16 years old, Cheadle was 23 at the time. Cheadle then played the role of Rocket in the 1988 movie
Colors. In 1989, he appeared in a music video for
Angela Winbush's number-two hit single "
It's the Real Thing" as a car wash employee performing dance moves. In 1990, he appeared in an episode of
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled "
Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy", playing
Will Smith's friend and Hilary's first love interest, Ice Tray. In 1992, he had a starring role in
The Golden Girls spin-off
The Golden Palace as Roland Wilson, a young serious hotel manager that Blanche, Rose, and Sophia had retained from the previous owners. He subsequently played
district attorney John Littleton on three seasons of
Picket Fences.
1993–2001: Rise to prominence Cheadle first received widespread notice for his portrayal of Mouse Alexander in the 1995 film
Devil in a Blue Dress, for which he won Best Supporting Actor awards from the
Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the
National Society of Film Critics and earned nominations for similar awards from the
Screen Actors Guild and the
NAACP Image Awards. Following soon thereafter was his performance in the title role of the 1996
HBO TV movie
Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault. In 1997, he starred in
John Singleton's historical drama
Rosewood and in the
disaster film Volcano. In the same year, he appeared in
Paul Thomas Anderson's
period drama Boogie Nights. The following year, he appeared in
Out of Sight. The film was an adaptation of
Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel of the
same name and the first of Cheadle's many collaborations with director
Steven Soderbergh. Cheadle's portrayal of
Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1998 TV movie
The Rat Pack won him a
Golden Globe Award and an
Emmy nomination. A year later he starred as Grant Wiggins, a school teacher in the film
A Lesson Before Dying, which won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. It was based on
the novel of the same name by
Ernest J. Gaines. He had two major film roles in 2000, starring as Montel Gordon, a
DEA agent in
Traffic and as Luke Graham in the
sci-fi film
Mission to Mars. The following year, he played
Basher Tarr in the heist film ''
Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts, and reprised his role for the sequels Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007. He starred alongside Hugh Jackman and John Travolta in the 2001 action thriller film Swordfish''. Cheadle made a guest appearance in the
ninth season of the television series
ER, playing the role of Paul Nathan, a medical student who suffers from
Parkinson's disease. For this performance, he was nominated for an
Emmy Award in the category of
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
2002–2009: Established actor Cheadle appeared in
NFL commercials promoting the
Super Bowl from 2002 to 2005. He so regularly appeared for the NFL in its Super Bowl advertising that in 2006, in a drive to get fans to submit their own advertising ideas, the NFL sought his permission to reference his previous commercials to portray themselves as having no new ideas: "he quickly signed off on the idea and found it funny." Abe Sutton (along with Etan Bednarsh), one of the finalists in this NFL contest, played on this commercial by proposing an ad in which every player on a football team is Don Cheadle. In 2005, Cheadle was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of
Paul Rusesabagina in the film
Hotel Rwanda. He also starred in and co-produced
Crash, which won the 2006
Academy Award for Best Picture. For his performance in
Crash, Cheadle was nominated for the
BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Supporting Actor. He played the main character in the movie
Traitor. In March 2007, Cheadle starred with comedian
Adam Sandler in
Mike Binder's
Reign Over Me, a comedy-drama about a man who has slipped away from reality after the death of his wife and three daughters on
9/11. The film was a
box office flop, earning a domestic gross of $22.2 million. Cheadle later starred in the 2009 DreamWorks Pictures film
Hotel for Dogs. Cheadle was to make his directorial debut with the adaptation of
Elmore Leonard's
Tishomingo Blues, but in July 2007, he stated, Tishomingo' is dead..." In 2009, Cheadle and
Boondocks creator
Aaron McGruder worked on a potential comedy show on NBC. Also in 2009, Cheadle performed in
The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian
Howard Zinn's ''
A People's History of the United States and its companion volume Voices of a People's History of the United States''.
2010–2020: Acclaim and Marvel films In 2010, Cheadle assumed the role of
James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine in
Iron Man 2 (2010), replacing
Terrence Howard. Cheadle reprised this role in the films
Iron Man 3 (2013) as the Iron Patriot,
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),
Captain America: Civil War (2016),
Avengers: Infinity War (2018),
Captain Marvel (2019), and
Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as the
Disney+ TV series
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021),
What If...? (2021),
Secret Invasion (2023) and the upcoming theatrical film
Armor Wars (TBA). From 2012 to 2016, Cheadle starred in the Showtime TV series
House of Lies. In 2013, he won the Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on the show. He was in the show for five seasons until it ended in 2016. Cheadle spent 10 years writing and producing the film
Miles Ahead (2016) based on the life of jazz musician
Miles Davis. Cheadle also directed and starred in the film. Locations for the movie were found in
Cincinnati. In 2018, Cheadle guest-starred in the first-season finale of
DuckTales, providing
Donald Duck's new voice box. He later guest-starred again in 2020 during season three after a wish Donald made to Gene the Genie had altered reality.
2021–present In 2021, Cheadle starred in the period crime thriller
No Sudden Move, in which he played Curt Goynes, a gangster in 1950s Detroit. Around that same year, Cheadle played a villain role in
Space Jam: A New Legacy, portraying the role of the main antagonist Al-G Rhythm. In February 2024, it was announced that Cheadle had joined the main cast for
Peacock's crime drama miniseries
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist. Cheadle co-starred in the biographical wrestling drama
Unstoppable. Based on the life of wrestler
Anthony Robles, Cheadle portrayed Sean Charles, his head coach. The feature premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September, followed by a limited theatrical release in December 2024. Cheadle is set to lead the Marvel film
Armor Wars. In April 2026, Cheadle made his Broadway debut in a revival of David Auburn's play
Proof. ==Activism==