Forest Steven Whitaker got a football scholarship before entering the California State Polytechnic University, where he was injured and had to change his major to music. He emerges into his characters and studies them. The Academy Award-winning actor contributed to the film industry for over four decades.
Whitaker met the actress Keisha Nash on the set of Blown Away (1994), in which they played a couple. They married after two years in Jamaica after he proposed to her. Their only daughter, True, was born in 1996, while the other three children hail from their previous relationships.
The couple divorced in 2020 over ‘irreconcilable differences’ when she was fifty-one. Their twenty-five-year-old daughter, True, shared her mother’s death news on 07 December 2022 via an Instagram story.
According to a magazine, Northshore, Keisha created a luxury cosmetics line called Kissable Couture and wanted to launch a clothing line for her children, thinking as a mother. However, she dropped the idea, thinking back as a businesswoman.
Forest Whitaker Net Worth
Forest Whitaker Net Worth is $25 Million. His film production and direction, acting, television production, screenwriting, and voice acting contribute to his net worth. Moreover, he appeared in various television shows and movies over the years.
Whitaker and his wife, Keisha Whitaker, purchased two properties of a total of 8,000 square feet worth $2 million in the Hollywood Hills in 2003. It has 10.5 bathrooms and eleven bedrooms and can be used as a guest house.
Whitaker combined those houses, which now contain two staircases, an office, a game room, an elaborate entry foyer, a swimming pool, a fireplace, a hot tub, a lounging area, and more. Whitaker planned to sell it for $6 million in 2017 but had to wait for an appropriate purchaser for a long time. Finally, he sold his property for $3.83 million in 2020.
Whitaker’s net worth increased over the years. For instance, it was $25 million last year, $24.5 million in 2021, $23 million in 2020, $22 million in 2019, $20 million in 2018, $18.8 million in 2017, and $18 million in 2016.
Meanwhile, Whitaker’s income was $6 million last year, $5.5 million in 2021, $6.2 million in 2020, $5 million in 2019, $4.5 million in 2018, and $4.8 million in 2017. He divorced his wife after twenty-two years of marriage when his kids were above eighteen. Thus, he did not pay for the child support.
Meanwhile, Keisha Whitaker asked for spousal support, but Forest Whitaker requested the court to deny her demands. He wanted both parties to pay their own legal fees, and there are no further details regarding their spousal support.
Career
Whitaker worked with several reputed film directors and producers throughout his career. He debuted with an American coming-of-age comedy film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), in which he played a well-known football player named Charles Jefferson in Ridgemont High. Made with $5 million, the film grossed $50 million internationally.
Whitaker gained a reputation by playing intense characters and appearing in historical dramas. He debuted as a director through an American television crime drama film, Strapped (1993). He played his first leading role as Charlie “Bird” Parker in the biographical music drama Bird (1988) and did extensive research on the character.
Whitaker regretted appearing in one of the worst movies ever made, Battlefield Earth (2000). It was commercially and critically criticized, and its production company, Franchise Pictures, went bankrupt. Moreover, the production company was sued for stating a false budget, which contributed to its bankruptcy.
Further, Whitaker’s performance in The Last King of Scotland (2006) brought him appreciation and multiple awards. Thus, his extensive research, lifestyle changes, and interviews with related people turned fruitful.
Whitaker emerged as an established actor in 2007. He played Saw Gerrera in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and was about to reprise his role in an animated movie of the same franchise.
Other Ventures
Whitaker owned the Spirit Dance Entertainment production company till he shut it down in 2006 to focus on acting. Currently, he owns the Significant Productions and co-chairs the JuntoBox Films. Besides that, he executive produced and co-wrote some soundtracks.
Whitaker helps people have peace in critical situations through the International Institute for Peace (IIP) and his NGO, Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), which operates in conflict-impacted regions such as Africa, the US, and Mexico. He has his political views and supported Barack Obama in 2008.
