SwayBlog

It's a family affair for the Washingtons! Denzel Washington and wife Pauletta Washington, née Pearson, first met in 1977 on set for TV movie Wilma, per The Sun. They reconnected after running into one another a year later, but it took Denzel three proposals to finally convince Pauletta to marry him. "Since it was three times, that means she turned me down twice," Washington joked during an Access Hollywood interview. 

The couple has four children together: actor John David Washington, actress Katia Washington, and twins Olivia and Malcolm Washington, who studied filmmaking and acting, per Oprah Magazine. Denzel and Pauletta also renewed their vows in 1995 during a ceremony officiated by Desmond Tutu, according to E! News. 

Pauletta is an accomplished stage and screen actor, appearing in the Academy Award-nominated Philadelphia and Spike Lee's 2017 Netflix series She's Gotta Have It. Pauletta opened up to The Root about resuming her career later in life. "When I became an empty nester... I got back on the scene. [But] before I left, my career was very, very active," Pauletta admitted. Her sister Rita Pearson also works as an executive assistant to Denzel for his films.

Denzel credits Pauletta for their shared success. "You can buy a house, but that doesn't make it a home... My wife has made our house a home, and raised these beautiful kids, and protected them and sacrificed for them," he told People. "She did the heavy lifting." 

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