LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton
Image:Levarburton-solo.jpg
Birth name	Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr.
Born	February 16 1957 (age 51) Landstuhl, Germany
Died	04/05/2007 Saginaw, Michigan
Other name(s)	LeVar Burton
Spouse(s)	Stephanie

Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, Germany), professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an African-American actor, director and author who first came to prominence playing Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award winning television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley.

Background

Burton was the child of a U.S. military family and was born in Germany at the U.S. Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center while his father was stationed at a nearby military base. At the age of 13 he entered a seminary to become a priest. He is a graduate of University of Southern California's School of Theatre. He has a daughter, Michaela, born in 1994, with his wife Stephanie, and a son, born in 1980. Burton was awarded joint custody of his son after a paternity suit.

He is an avid poker player, and participant in the World Poker Tour. [1] Currently residing in Nova Scotia, he and his wife Stephanie have worked to raise the awareness of treatments for infertility.

Early career

Following on his Emmy-nominated work in Roots he was something of a household name. He was so well-recognized that he appeared virtually as himself in the late 1970s and early 1980s on a number of television shows that employed "name" actors in guest roles. Thus, largely on the back of a single performance in Roots part 1, he was a visitor to Fantasy Island, participant in Battle of the Network Stars, a guest of the Muppet Show's televised premiere party for the release of The Muppet Movie and a frequent guest on several popular game shows of the day. During these earliest days of MTV, he even appeared on a music video called "Word Up!" by R&B band Cameo.

As the 1980s progressed, his interest in bettering the lives of children began to manifest itself. He created and began to host and executively produce Reading Rainbow in 1983 for PBS.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

In around 1986, Gene Roddenberry approached him with an offer of regular series work. Thus, a decade after he had become a celebrity, he joined the regular cast of a dramatic television program for the first time. Burton began playing the role of the then Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series.

Other appearances

Beyond his two most famous series, Burton has enjoyed a wide range of acting work, alternating between serious historical roles and those in more fantastic fiction. It is the historical work that has garnered the most critical attention. On television, he has helped dramatize the last days of Jim Jones' suicide cult in Guyana, the life and times of Jesse Owens, and the life of the 9-year-old Booker T. Washington. More recently in theatres, he has played the character of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 2001 film Ali.

He has also lent his voice to several animated projects. His most long-lived animated role is probably that of "Kwame", narrator in the cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990 – 1993) and The New Adventures of Captain Planet (1993 – 1996). However, he has also contributed to Family Guy, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles.

Burton appeared several times as a celebrity guest on the Dick Clark hosted $100,000 Pyramid, which ran from 1985-88.

Burton also was the strongest link in the special Star Trek Episode of The Weakest Link winning approximately $750 000 for his charity. His final opponent was Robert Picardo. It was a record for the show for anyone.

Burton is the voice that asks 'what were the skies like when you were young?' on The Orb track "Little Fluffy Clouds", a sample from Reading Rainbow.

Directing

Like several other actors, Burton leveraged his regular role in Star Trek to launch his directing career. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he would come to direct episodes for each of the various Star Trek series then in production. He has directed more Star Trek episodes than any other former regular cast member.

That said, a widespread myth about Burton is that he is the only director to have contributed an episode to each of the four live-action Star Trek series which immediately followed after the original Star Trek. This myth was, in part, perpetuated by Burton himself in an interview on the Star Trek: Voyager season 6 DVD extra features. However, Winrich Kolbe has also directed at least one episode of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.

Burton has also directed episodes of Charmed, JAG, and Soul Food: The Series, as well as the miniseries Miracle's Boys and the documentary The Tiger Woods Story.

His first foray into the world of theatrical film direction was a notable success. Not only did 2003's Blizzard garner him a "Best of Fest" award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, but he also picked up a Genie Award nomination for his work on the film's theme song, "Center of My Heart."

Books

Fiction

• Aftermath, 1997, ISBN 0-446-67960-7

Awards

Nominations

• 1977 Emmy — Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Performance in a Drama or Comedy Series — Roots (Part 1, "Kunta Kinte")
• 1996, 1999 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 1999, 2003, 2005 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Self)
• 2004 Genie Award — Best Achievement in Music-Original Song — Blizzard (Co-composer "Center of My Heart")
• 2006 Black Reel Award — Best Director-Television — Miracle's Boys

Victories

• Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd. for television achievement (unveiled 1990)
• 1993 Peabody Award — Reading Rainbow (as executive producer of episode, "The Wall")
• 1995-1996, 1999, 2002-2003 Image Award — variously for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series and Outstanding Youth or Children's Series/Special — Reading Rainbow (both as Self and as Executive Producer)
• 2001-2003, 2005 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Children's Series— Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 2001-2002 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Self)
• 2003 Television Critics' Association Award — Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming — Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 2004 Chicago International Children's Film Festival — Best of Fest — Blizzard (Director) [2]

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