Meet Denzel Washington’s wife, Pauletta Washington: the classically trained pianist started out on Broadway, is currently in Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt, and once cooked for Nelson Mandela
Pauletta and Denzel Washington may disagree about who initiated their romance, but with 41 years of marriage under their belt and counting, their love has stood the test of time
However, when asked in September last year why she thought she and her husband were still together, Pauletta offered a different reason: “We work at it,” she told People. “It’s work. There are a lot of prayers for strength, for staying in a forgiveness mode … mine and his. But it’s the basic love that we have for each other,” she added.
So who is the woman who’s been by the Training Day actor’s side since the beginning? Here’s what to know.
She was fearless from an early age
Pauletta Pearson was born in North Carolina in 1950. Growing up in the segregated South, she began to break racial barriers at a young age by performing in prestigious piano recital competitions, per Deadline, and by being the first Black contestant to compete for the title of Miss North Carolina.
“A lot of that classically trained [behaviour] came from my father and my mother in the house,” Pauletta told Perception Magazine in November 2022. “‘Cause they were both professors so we had to speak correctly, we had to be able to talk, to explain properly, so I think that was my beginning, and then school.”
She’s an actress and musician
