Before They Were Stars: Denzel Washington as a Mugger in “Death Wish”

Okay, this one took me completely by surprise! I’ve already featured Jeff Goldblum’s infamous turn as a mugger/rapist in the Charles Bronson classic, Death Wish, and an early role that Christopher Guest had in the film, but I had no idea until today that Denzel Washington made his acting debut here! To be fair, the role was uncredited and he doesn’t get any major closeups so that you can tell that it’s him, but many sources have confirmed that it is indeed 19-year old Denzel as the mugger in the black leather jacket that gets shot by Bronson in this scene. There have been rumours about a possible Death Wish remake for years and, I must say, if I was an aspiring young actor, I would want to take a role as a mugger in that film since it seems to be a good luck omen!