Denzel Washington's Final TV Role Was On An Animated HBO Kids' Show

Denzel Washington, one of the greatest actors alive, got his start on television. However, the two-time Oscar-winner hasn't graced the small screen for nearly three decades, and it seems unlikely that he'll ever do so again. That means his final TV acting credit is a voice role on a forgotten HBO show from the '90s, "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child."

Premiering on HBO on March 12, 1995, "Happily Ever After" was a cartoon anthology series that retold classic fairy and folk tales in a multicultural setting featuring notable voice actors. Narrated by Robert Guillaume, the roster of guest performers included Harry Belafonte, Rosie Perez, James Earl Jones, Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackon, and New York City mayors Ed Koch and Rudolph Giuliani, to name a few. Washington appeared in two episodes, as King Omar in a season 1 retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" and as Humpty Dumpty and the Crooked Man in a season 2 episode titled "Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special."

"Happily Ever After" ran for three seasons, ending in 2000. A New York Times story from when the show premiered said the animation was just passable, but the instinct to reimagine European children's tales in diverse settings was admirable, and the stories were well-told.

Denzel Washington's first major role was Dr. Philip Chandler on the acclaimed medical drama "St. Elsewhere," but he essentially left television behind when the NBC series ended in 1988. Since then, he's only narrated three PBS documentaries and directed a 2016 episode of "Grey's Anatomy." Those two voice roles on "Happily Ever After" are his only post-"St. Elsewhere" TV acting credits.

Until fairly recently, this wouldn't have been notable. For most of the medium's history, movie stars rarely appeared on television. Actors like Washington may have gotten their start on the small screen, but once he'd established himself as an A-list film actor, it would've been viewed as a step backward if he appeared in a TV show. Maybe you'd get an actor to pop into a recording booth for a day or two so they could voice a cartoon character, like in "Happily Ever After," but whenever a movie star appeared on TV in the flesh, it was a big deal. 

That started to change with the streaming era, as prestigious limited series with big budgets drew Oscar-winning actors back to TV. Washington, however, never followed in the footsteps of Julia Roberts ("Homecoming"), Mahershala Ali ("True Detective"), or Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep ("Big Little Lies").

Now it seems as though "Happily Ever After" will officially be Washington's final TV acting role. During an interview with "Today" in 2024, he announced his intent to retire after he wrapped his final projects, and none of them were TV shows.