Washington picked up three accolades

Washington won a best actor statuette from the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) for his role as a desperate father in John Q.

He also won the best supporting actor accolade at the show's Image Awards for his role as a navy psychiatrist in Antwone Fisher.

Washington collected a further prize as the producer and director of Antwone Fisher, which won best picture.

He had guided the film from script to screen in his directing debut.

Washington, an Academy winner in 2002 for best actor in Training Day, joined fellow Oscar recipient Halle Berry to induct director Spike Lee into the show's hall of fame.

Lee, whose 16 films include Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, thanked his late mother for "dragging me to movies and Broadway plays".

Lee said: "This is a very wonderful moment ... from the very beginning I wanted to build up a body of work... that's how you judge an artist."

Berry picked up a best supporting actress award for her role as secret agent Jinx in the Bond film Die Another Day.

Angela Bassett took home two best actress statuettes, for the film Sunshine State and for CBS's The Rosa Parks Story.

Lethal Weapon actor Danny Glover received the chairman's award for his work to broaden human rights internationally and to abolish the death penalty.

In his acceptance speech, Glover urged the audience "to question, to dissent, to speak truth when the call to patriotism and nationalism are used as barriers to detain us".