LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Star Trek, Roots, Reading Rainbow
LeVar Burton, is an actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries ROOTS, based on the novel by Alex Haley. He is also well known for his portrayal of Geordi La Forge on the syndicated science fiction series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and as the host of the PBS children's program READING RAINBOW.
Burton rose to prominence in 1977 when he played Kunta Kinte (Toby) in the ABC drama series ROOTS. As a result of his performance, he was nominated for the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series. He reprised the role of Kunta Kinte in the 1988 television film ROOTS: THE GIFT.
In 1986, Gene Roddenberry approached him with the role of the then Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION television series. La Forge was blind, but was granted "sight" through the use of a prosthetic device called a VISOR, which was worn over his eyes.
Burton also portrayed La Forge in the subsequent feature films based on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, beginning with STAR TREK GENERATIONS in 1994 through 2002's STAR TREK NEMESIS. Burton also directed and appeared in the Season 5 episode of STAR TREK: VOYAGER titled "Timeless".
On television, Burton 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 nine-year-old Booker T. Washington. He portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 2001 film ALI. He also portrayed Detroit Tiger Ron LeFlore in the television movie ONE IN A MILLION, THE RON LEFLORE STORY.
In 1987, Burton played Dave Robinson, a journalist (sports writer), in the third season of MURDER, SHE WROTE, episode 16 "Death Takes a Dive" starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher.
He has also lent his voice to several animated projects including Kwame in the cartoon series CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS (1990–1993) and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN PLANET (1993–1996), FAMILY GUY, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and GARGOYLES. Burton is on the audio version of THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Burton was also cast as voice actor for Black Lightning in SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES DVD.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Burton directed 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. He has also directed episodes of CHARMED, JAG, LAS VEGAS, and SOUL FOOD: THE SERIES as well as the miniseries MIRACLE'S BOYS and the documentary THE TIGER WOODS STORY.
Burton was host and executive producer of READING RAINBOW starting in 1983 for PBS. The series ran for 23 seasons, making it one of the longest running children's programs on the network. It garnered over 200 broadcast awards over its run, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards, 11 of which were in the "Outstanding Children's Series" category. Burton himself won 12 Emmy awards as host and producer of the show.
After READING RAINBOW went off the air in 2006, Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe acquired the global rights to the brand and formed RRKIDZ, a new media company for children. READING RAINBOW was reimagined as an all new app for the iPad in 2012 and was an immediate success, becoming the #1 Educational App within 36 hours. At RRKIDZ, Burton serves as Co-Founder and Curator-in-Chief, ensuring that the projects produced under the banner meet the high expectations and trust of the Reading Rainbow brand.
LeVar Burton on Twitter
LeVar Burton's Official Website (Reading Rainbow)
LeVar Burton at the Internet Movie Database