Celebrity Online NewsOnline Celebrity Gossip and News

LeVar Burton extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009) (Find sources: LeVar Burton – news, books, scholar)

LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton in 2007
Born	Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. February 16, 1957 (1957-02-16) (age 52) Landstuhl, West Germany
Other name(s)	LeVar Burton
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Stephanie Cozart Burton

Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, West Germany), professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director 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, Planeteer Kwame from Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and as the host of the PBS children's program Reading Rainbow.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation 4 Other appearances 5 Directing 6 Personal life 7 Books 7.1 Fiction 7.2 See also 8 Awards 8.1 Nominations 8.2 Wins 9 References 10 External links

Early life

Burton was the child of a U.S. military family and was born in West Germany at the U.S. Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center while his father was stationed at a nearby military base. He and his two sisters were raised by his mother, an English teacher, in Sacramento, California.¹ 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.

Early career

Following on his Emmy-nominated work in Roots 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 appeared on a music video called "Word Up!" by R&B band Cameo.

In a 1978 interview, Burton said, "after Roots, I did a lot of talk and game shows, and then I stopped. I didn't want to get over-exposed."^{cite this quote} It was at this point that Burton accepted an invitation to host Rebop, a multicultural series designed for young people ages 9–13, produced by WGBH for PBS. Burton liked Rebop's goals of helping children of all cultures to communicate across cultural and racial lines. Burton said, "Kids can learn a lot through Rebop. They can see kids from a variety of backgrounds who live all over the country, and have the same problems growing up as they do."^{citation needed}

As the 1980s progressed, he created and began to host and executively produce Reading Rainbow in 1983 for PBS.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

In 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 major 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. Geordi La Forge was the USS Enterprise's helmsman and, as of the second season, its Chief Engineer.

Burton has also portrayed La Forge in every feature film 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 Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 episode "Timeless", in 2000; he directed other episodes, such as "Q2".

Other appearances

Beyond his two most famous series, Burton has enjoyed a wide range of acting work, alternating between serious historical roles and 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's 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 has also lent his voice to several animated projects. His longest-lived animated role is probably that of Kwame 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 is also on the audio version of The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Burton appeared several times as a celebrity guest on the Dick Clark–hosted Pyramid, from 1982 until 1988. Burton also was the strongest link in the special Star Trek episode of The Weakest Link. He defeated his final opponent Robert Picardo and won $167,500 for his charity, a record for the show.

He has also made appearances in such sitcoms as Becker and Spin City.

Burton is the host and executive producer of a documentary entitled The Science of Peace, which is in production as of 2007. It investigates the science and technology aimed at enabling world peace, sometimes called peace science. The film explores some of the concepts of shared noetic consciousness, having been sponsored in part by the Institute of Noetic Sciences.²

He makes occasional appearances on This Week in Tech, where he is a self-proclaimed "nerd".

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.

LeVar is on the board of directors for the Directors Guild of America.

Burton 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.

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."

He also directed the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House starring Katey Sagal, Kevin Kilner and Jessica Steen.

His most recent directorial project "Reach For Me", in which he also played a supporting role, was released in theaters in March 2008.

His production company is Integrity Entertainment.

Personal life

Burton has a daughter, born in 1994, with his wife, make-up artist Stephanie Cozart Burton, and a son, born in 1980 to another woman. Burton was awarded joint custody of his son after a paternity suit. Burton and his wife and daughter currently live in Sherman Oaks, California.

He is an avid poker player, and participant in the World Poker Tour.³

Books

Fiction

• Aftermath, 1997, ISBN 0-446-67960-7

See also

• Nishikawa, Kinohi. "LeVar Burton." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Ed. Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. 5 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. 219.

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 '

Wins

• Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd. for television achievement (unveiled 1990)
• 1992 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)
• 2000 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album - The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 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)

References

1. ^ Wellesley College on iTunes
2. ^ "Science of Peace". scienceofpeace.com. http://www.scienceofpeace.com/document.html. 
3. ^ WPT | LeVar Burton

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: LeVar Burton

• LeVar Burton (personal website)
• LeVar Burton at the Internet Movie Database
• LeVar Burton at Allmovie
• Reading Rainbow: What Kids Want to Know Q&A with LeVar

• LeVar Burton at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

v • d • e Star Trek: The Next Generation Primary characters Beverly Crusher · Wesley Crusher · Data · Geordi LaForge · Jean-Luc Picard · Katherine Pulaski · William Riker · Deanna Troi · Worf · Tasha Yar Primary cast LeVar Burton · Denise Crosby · Michael Dorn · Jonathan Frakes · Gates McFadden · Diana Muldaur · Marina Sirtis · Brent Spiner · Patrick Stewart · Wil Wheaton Feature films Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis Other topics Episodes · DVD releases · Recurring characters · USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) · USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) · "These Are the Voyages..."