People: Denzel takes time to remember the titans

The world knows Denzel Washington as a two-time Oscar winner, someone so good-looking that Newsweek once used his perfect proportions to scientifically explain the perception of beauty.

But once upon a time, Washington says, he thought he might not make it out of his rough Mount Vernon, N.Y., neighborhood alive.

Still, former mentors Billy Thomas and Jack Coleman knew he wasn’t your typical street kid.

“He had a lot of class for a boy,” Coleman says of Washington, whose new movie “Deja Vu,” opened Wednesday. “He knew everybody on the block, but he wasn’t of the block.”

Coleman and Thomas are among those whom Washington names as inspirations in a new book, “A Hand to Guide Me” (Meredith Books, $24.95).

In it, he gathers essays by 74 legendary personalities – from former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to sports giants Hank Aaron and Muhammad Ali – about people who shaped their lives.

“We’re all destined to leave some kind of mark,” writes Washington. “This book is about that certain push, that helping hand we’ve all had to reach for in order to get where we’re going.”

To Washington, Thomas was a “powerful force of nature” as the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Mount Vernon, which the actor joined when he was 6. (Washington, national spokesman for Boys and Girls Clubs, is donating the book’s proceeds to the organization.)

Now an elementary school teacher, Thomas believes the discipline he required helped kids like Washington find their path to success.

“They knew if they broke (the rules), I was going to deal with them,” he says. “And there was competition, but it was positive competition. If you didn’t make (a team) this year, then you worked harder. You didn’t cry.”

Coleman, who now lives in Harlem, ran the Modernistic beauty salon on Third Street in Mount Vernon with Washington’s mother, Lennis.

That’s where Washington got his first paying job, when he was 11.

“He was a happy-go-lucky kid,” recalls Coleman. “I’d tell his mother, ‘He’s not a bad boy. He’s just a free spirit.’ He was outgoing, so it was always hard keeping up with him.”

Coleman says he was surprised when Washington became an actor, though he certainly “was never shy about anything.”

Thomas recognized Washington’s skill immediately while watching him in a student production of “Othello” at Fordham University.

“I saw his talent and was totally overwhelmed by it,” he says.

Until recently, neither Thomas nor Coleman knew that Washington had named them in the book. And while they’re pleased with the public praise, they’re happier that Washington is encouraging others to make an impression on today’s youngsters.

Says Thomas: “That consciousness has gotten lost.”

The birthday bunch

Singer Robert Goulet is 73. Impressionist Rich Little is 68. Singer Tina Turner is 67. Bassist John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) is 61. Actress Jamie Rose (“Falcon Crest”) is 47. Country singer Joe Nichols is 30. Singer Lil Fizz (B2K) is 21.