Since being named the Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics for his breakout performance opposite Denzel Washington in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, Don Cheadle has consistently turned in powerful performances on the stage and screen.

Cheadle most recently starred in HOTEL RWANDA, the true story of a hotel manager who saves hundreds from slaughter during Rwanda's genocidal massacres of 1994. The film won top honors at the 2004 Toronto and AFI Film Festivals and garnered Cheadle Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Broadcast Film Critics Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actor.

Additional recent credits include a second run as Basher Tarr' in Steven Soderbergh's OCEAN'S TWELVE, with a cast again led by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, an appearance as Moore, a delusional underworld crime figure, opposite Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek in Brett Ratner's comedic heist, AFTER THE SUNSET and a cameo appearance in THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, opposite Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

Cheadle will soon make his directorial debut with TISHOMINGO BLUES, a feature adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel. He will also star in the film opposite Matthew McConaughey.

Cheadle's previous feature roles include OCEAN'S ELEVEN and the Academy Award-winning TRAFFIC, both directed by Steven Soderbergh, with whom Cheadle first worked on Universal's OUT OF SIGHT, in which he played Maurice ‘Snoopy' Miller. He played the memorable role of Buck in Paul Thomas Anderson's serio-comic look at the porn industry in BOOGIE NIGHTS. He also starred in VOLCANO with Tommy Lee Jones, BULWORTH with Warren Beatty, SWORDFISH with John Travolta and Halle Berry and MISSION TO MARS with Tim Robbins and Gary Sinise. Cheadle received an NAACP Image Award nomination for his work in John Singleton's ROSEWOOD. He also delivered a memorable comedic cameo for director Brett Ratner as a guardian angel in Universal's FAMILY MAN opposite Nicolas Cage.

Cheadle has embraced independent features such as the all-digital MANIC, for director Jordan Melamed, and THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND opposite Ryan Gosling and Kevin Spacey. His powerful performance in Alison Anders' THINGS BEHIND THE SUN garnered Cheadle an Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Cheadle is also well-recognized for his television work. He received a Golden Globe award for his remarkable portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO's THE RAT PACK, a performance which was also nominated for a best supporting Emmy. That same year, he received a lead actor Emmy nomination for his starring role in HBO's adaptation of the critically-acclaimed, best selling novel A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines, in which Cheadle starred opposite Cicely Tyson and Mekhi Phifer. He also starred for HBO in REBOUND: THE LEGEND OF EARL THE GOAT MANIGAULT, directed by Eriq La Salle.

Well known for his two-year stint in the role of ‘District Attorney John Littleton' on David E. Kelley's critically-acclaimed series Picket Fences, Cheadle's other series credits include a guest starring role on ER (a performance that earned him yet another Emmy nomination), a series regular role on The Golden Palace and a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Cheadle was also part of the stellar cast of the thrilling live CBS television broadcast of FAIL SAFE in which he starred opposite George Clooney, James Cromwell, Brain Dennehy, Richard Dreyfuss and Harvey Keitel.

An accomplished stage actor, Cheadle originated the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning play Top Dog Underdog at New York's Public Theatre under the direction of George C. Wolfe. His other stage credits include Leon, Lena and Lenz at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; The Grapes of Wrath and Liquid Skin at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis; Cymbeline at The New York Shakespeare Festival; ‘Tis a Pity She's a Whore at Chicago's Goodman Theater; and Athol Fugard's South African play Blood Knot at The Complex Theater in Hollywood. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Cheadle later relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado before he finally settled in Los Angeles. He attended the prestigious California Institute of the Arts (CAL ARTS) in Valencia, California, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts. With the encouragement of his college friends, Cheadle auditioned for a variety of and television roles while attending school and landed a recurring role on the hit series Fame. This lead to feature film roles in COLORS directed by Dennis Hopper, the John Irvin-directed HAMBURGER HILL, opposite Dylan McDermott, and METEOR MAN directed by Robert Townsend.

A talented musician who plays saxophone, writes music and sings, Don Cheadle is also an accomplished director with the stage productions of Cincinnati Man at the Attic Theater, the critically-acclaimed The Trip at Friends and Artists Theater in Hollywood and Three, True, One at the electric Lodge in Venice, California on an already impressive resume.

In addition to his many acting honors, Cheadle was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration/dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel, Fear Itself.

Cheadle resides in Los Angeles.