Viola Davis makes Oscars history as the most-nominated

Black actress ever

Viola Davis has broken new ground for Black actresses at the Academy
Awards. The 55-year-old performer received her fourth career acting nomination
(for her work as the titular character in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) on Monday
morning and, in doing so, broke the record for the most number of overall acting
nominations for a Black actress in Hollywood history — and became the only
Black woman with two Best Actress nominations.
 Viola Davis
Viola was born on August 11, 1965 in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, United
States. She was born on her grandmother's farm, inhabited by slaves years ago
in Plantation Singleton.

She was raised in Central Falls, Rhode Island, where they were given
permission to live freely in a building set that would be demolished at any time.
Her father found work as a horse tamer on nearby trails and her mother took on
housework and factory work.
His income was often insufficient to support the family, Viola had an extremely
poor childhood. Daughter of an alcoholic father, domestic violence and hunger
were a constant in her walk
In an interview Viola Davis tells about his childhood:

"We would go to bed and we would see the rats killing pigeons on the roof.
They made loud noises. We wrapped our sheets around our necks at night,
because the rats crawled through holes in the wall and we could hear them
eating our toys, jumping on top of our beds. I always say I peed in bed until I
was 14. I did everything I could to get food. I stole it to eat, I went into huge
garbage cans, full of maggots, for food. I sacrificed childhood for food. I grew up
with immense shame."

"I was traumatized by the past. I was that little girl running away from eight or
nine boys who kept saying, 'You ugly little nigga!', 'You're ugly!', 'You're black!'.
It is true that much has been internalized in me and manifested itself through
low self-esteem, through bad relationships, not believing in me.’’
As a child, Viola began acting in school productions and theatre competitions.
She enrolled at Rhode Island College, where she majored in theatre in 1988.
She proceeded to the Young Peoples School for the Performing Arts in Rhode
Island on scholarship.

In 1992, she starred in her first professional stage role, an off Broadway.

In 1996 made her Broadway debut in the original Broadway production of

August Wilson's Seven Guitars as the Vera, alongside Keith David

In 1998, she played a small role in Steven Soderbergh's crime comedy film Out
of Sight (1999).

In 2009, she was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.

In 2010, returned to Broadway in her third August Wilson play.Her performance

received raves from critics in particular theatre critic Ben Brantley of The New
York Times who described Viola performance as "extraordinary"

On June 13, 2010, Viola won her second Tony Award for her performance. She
was the second African-American to win the Tony for Best Performance by a
Leading Actress in a Play, after Phylicia Rashad.

Worldwide recognition and continued acclaim (2011–2016)

In February 2014, Viola was cast in Peter Nowalk's pilot How to Get Away with
Murder (executive produced by Shonda Rhimes for her ShondaLand production
company) as the lead character.

Her character, Annalise Keating, is a tough criminal defense attorney and

professor who becomes entangled in murder plot with her students. It began as
a series in September 2014.

In September 2015, Viola became the first African-American to win the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her
role on How to Get Away with Murder.

She received a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the role in 2016.
Viola also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance
by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 2014 and 2015. She received
nominations from the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television
Series Drama and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for
her performance on the show.
Viola married actor Julius Tennon in June 2003.

In 2011, the couple adopted an infant daughter named Genesis. Viola is also a
stepmother to Tennon's two children from previous relationships.

Since 2014, Viola has collaborated with the Hunger Is campaign to help
eradicate childhood hunger across America. Speaking on her work, Viola said
that "seventeen million kids in this country, so one in five kids in this country, go
to bed hungry. I was one of those kids."

Faced with so many setbacks, so many adversities, Viola recalls the importance
of a mentor or mentor, a positive reference for people with experiences
analogous to their traumas and build successful narratives. I was lucky.
Throughout my life, I met several people who took over this place and were
instrumental in getting me here.

Viola Davis also said that we can use pain and trauma to transform, to influence
people in a positive way. That's what I'm trying to do.