Viola Davis

Viola Davis is an American actress and producer with an estimated net worth of $35 million. One of the most acclaimed performers of her generation, she is the first Black actor to achieve the “Triple Crown of Acting” — an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award.

Early Life & Family

Viola Davis was born on August 11, 1965, on her grandmother’s farm in St. Matthews, South Carolina, and raised in Central Falls, Rhode Island, one of six children of Mae Alice and Dan Davis. Her father worked as a horse groom and trainer, while her mother worked as a maid and factory worker and was also active in the civil rights movement. The family experienced significant poverty during Davis’s childhood, an experience she has spoken about extensively throughout her career.

Rise to Fame

Davis studied theatre at Rhode Island College before training at the Juilliard School in New York. She built her early career on the New York stage, winning a Tony Award for her role in “King Hedley II” in 2001, before her film breakthrough came with an Academy Award-nominated supporting role in “Doubt” (2008), followed by another nomination for “The Help” (2011).

Career History

Davis won a second Tony Award for “Fences” in 2010 and later reprised the role on film, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2017. On television, she starred as Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder,” becoming the first Black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015. Her more recent film work includes “The Woman King” (2022) and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” (2023).

How They Built Their Wealth

Davis’s income comes from film and television acting fees, stage work, and producing credits through JuVee Productions, the company she co-founded with her husband. She has also earned income from her bestselling memoir, “Finding Me,” and from brand endorsement deals, including a long-running partnership with L’Oreal.

Personal Life

Davis has been married to actor and producer Julius Tennon since 2003. The couple adopted a daughter, Genesis, in 2011.

Viola Davis’s net worth is estimated at $35 million, built across decades of acclaimed work on stage, screen and as a producer.