HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''
Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
'' (1977), and was the host of the
PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
educational television series '' Reading Rainbow'' for 23 years (1983–2006). Burton received 12
Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
and a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
as host and executive producer of ''Reading Rainbow''. His other roles include Cap Jackson in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977), Donald Lang in ''Dummy'' (1979), Tommy Price in ''The Hunter'' (1980), which earned him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, and
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
in ''Ali'' (2001). Burton received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards for his narration of the book ''The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr''. In 1990, he was honored for his accomplishments in television with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. From 2017 until 2024, Burton created and hosted the podcast '' LeVar Burton Reads'', which has been described as "''Reading Rainbow'' for adults". In October 2024, Burton appeared as the host of the ''
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question the ...
'' game show on
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
.


Early life

Burton was born in Landstuhl, West Germany. His mother, Erma Gene (née Christian), was a social worker, administrator, and educator. Burton and his two sisters were raised by his mother in
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States. * a" acramento ismy hometown, my home base. It's where I grew up. I was born in Landstuhl, Germany in '57, came to Sacramento in '59 — we lived in Glen Elder — then went back to ermanyin '64, then eturned to Sacramentoin '66. My parents split up during y military father'ssecond tour of duty when I was in the third or fourth grade. So my mom, my sisters and I settled in West Sacramento, in Broderick. Then we moved to South Sacramento when I was in the sixth grade — St. Anne's Elementary." Burton's father, also named LeVar, was a photographer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps stationed at Landstuhl at the time of his son's birth. His paternal grandparents were both educators in rural
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. His great-great grandfather, Hal B. Burton, was an African-American state legislator in Arkansas after the
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
that enfranchised African Americans in the South after the American Civil War; he was elected to represent Jefferson County in 1887. As a teen, Burton, who was raised
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, entered St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Galt, California, intending to become a priest. At the age of 17, questioning the Catholic faith, he changed his vocation to acting; at the age of 19, while an undergraduate at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, he won a starring role in the 1977 television miniseries ''
Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
''.


Career


Early work

Burton made his acting debut in 1976 with ''Almos' a Man'', a film based on the Richard Wright short story, " The Man Who Was Almost a Man", in which Burton stars alongside Madge Sinclair.


''Roots''

Burton's breakthrough role was as the young Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''
Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
'' (1977), based on the novel of the same name by Alex Haley. Burton has described his first day playing Kunta as the start of his professional career. As a result of his performance, he was nominated for an
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
in the Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series category. He reprised the role of Kunta Kinte in the 1988 television film '' Roots: The Gift''. When asked about the societal influence of ''Roots'', Burton is quoted as saying: "It expanded the consciousness of people. Blacks and whites began to see each other as human beings, not as stereotypes. And if you throw a pebble into the pond, you're going to get ripples. I think the only constant is change, and it's always slow. Anything that happens overnight is lacking in foundation. ''Roots'' is part of a changing trend, and it's still being played out."


''Reading Rainbow''

Burton was the host and executive producer of '' Reading Rainbow'' starting in 1983 for PBS. The series ran for 23 seasons. 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 application for the
iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
in 2012, and was an immediate success, becoming the number-one educational application 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. On May 28, 2014, Burton and numerous coworkers from other past works started a
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign project to bring back ''Reading Rainbow''. To keep with the changing formats to which young children are exposed, his efforts are being directed at making this new program web based, following the success of the tablet application he helped create in recent years. His desire is to have the new ''Reading Rainbow'' be integrated into the classrooms of elementary schools across the country, and for schools in need to have free access. The Kickstarter campaign has since raised more than $5 million, reaching triple its goal in only three days. In 2017, Burton was sued by the public broadcasting company
WNED-TV WNED-TV (channel 17), branded BTPM PBS, is a PBS member television station in Buffalo, New York, United States. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (doing business as Buffalo Toronto Public Media) alongside NPR m ...
for alleged copyright infringement for use of the Reading Rainbow brand in marketing the new iPad app and other online media. RRKIDZ later became known as LeVar Burton Kids and the iPad app, Skybrary.


''Star Trek: The Next Generation''

In 1986,
Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...
approached Burton with the role of Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' television series. The character is blind but is granted "sight" through the use of a
prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
device called a
VISOR A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...
worn over his eyes. La Forge began as the USS ''Enterprise'''s
helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...
, and as of the show's second season, had become its chief engineer. At the time, Burton was considerably better known than
Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
in the United States, due to his roles in ''Roots'' and ''Reading Rainbow''. When the show premiered, the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
stated that Burton's role was essentially the "new
Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...
". In a 2019 interview, Burton laughed in disbelief at the idea, stating "that speculation never came to fruition." Burton also portrayed La Forge in the subsequent feature films based on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', from '' Star Trek Generations'' (1994) to '' Star Trek: Nemesis'' (2002). He directed two episodes of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and several episodes of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', and '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. He reprised the role of LaForge in the third and final season of '' Star Trek: Picard'' (2023).


Podcast: ''LeVar Burton Reads''

In 2017, Burton began a podcast, '' LeVar Burton Reads''. Each 30-45-minute episode features Burton reading a piece of short fiction and sharing his thoughts on it. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued to read on his podcast and also gave live readings three times a week during a Twitter livestream focused at different times to different children, young adults, and adult audiences. In reviews, the podcast is often described as "''Reading Rainbow'' for adults". Since its launch, ''LeVar Burton Reads'' has won favorable reviews, in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' and elsewhere and numerous awards, including the 2023
Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
for Best Art and Culture Podcast. Burton's five-word Webby acceptance speech was: "Be a better person. Read." In 2023, Burton launched a second podcast, this time for children, called ''Sound Detectives''.


Other appearances

Burton played a role as a visitor to '' Fantasy Island'', guest star on ''
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...
'', was a participant in '' Battle of the Network Stars'', a guest of ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
''s televised premiere party for the release of '' The Muppet Movie'', and a frequent guest on several game shows. In 1986, he appeared in the music video for the song " Word Up!" by the
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
/ R&B group Cameo. In 1987, Burton played Dave Robinson, a journalist (sports writer), in the third season of ''
Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
'', episode 16 – "Death Takes a Dive", starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher. Burton accepted an invitation to host '' Rebop'', a multicultural series designed for young people aged 9–15, produced by WGBH for PBS. On television, Burton has helped dramatize the last days of Jim Jones's suicide cult in
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
, the life and times of
Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...
, and the life of the nine-year-old Booker T. Washington. He portrayed
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
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 1992, a clip of Burton's voice was sampled by DC Talk for the track "Time is..." on their album '' Free at Last''. The sample is at the very end of the song, in which Burton can be heard saying: "Whoa, wait a minute." 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), '' Our Friend, Martin'' (1999), ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'', '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and '' Gargoyles''. Burton is on the audio version of books such as '' The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963'' by Christopher Paul Curtis. Burton has been cast as voice actor for Black Lightning in '' Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'' DVD. Burton appeared several times as a celebrity guest on the
Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...
-hosted '' $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids'', from 1982 until 1988. Burton also was the strongest link in the special ''Star Trek'' episode of ''
The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
''. He defeated his final opponent
Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Doctor on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also appeared as Richard Woolsey in the ''Stargate'' franchise, the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach ...
and won $167,500 for his charity,
Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization. It was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential ...
of Southern California, a record for the show at that time and the largest amount won in any Celebrity Edition of the show (it was later surpassed by a $188,500 win in a "Tournament of Losers" episode). He has made appearances in such sitcoms as '' Becker''. Burton is the host and executive producer of a documentary titled ''The Science of Peace'', which was in production as of 2007. It investigates the science and technology aimed at enabling
world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...
, 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. He appeared in an April Fool's episode of '' Smosh'' pretending to have taken over the channel and making various edits at popular Smosh videos. He makes occasional appearances on '' This Week in Tech'', where he is a self-proclaimed "nerd", and also participated in the
Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
2010. In 2010, Burton made an appearance on '' Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' as the ghost of himself in the episode "Greene Machine". In February 2011, he made an appearance as himself on NBC's ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
'' in the episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking", and then again in January 2014's " Geothermal Escapism". Burton has appeared as a fictionalized, humorous version of himself on ''
The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...
'', first appearing in the episode " The Toast Derivation", in which he almost attends a party thrown by Sheldon (before swearing off Twitter), in November 2012 in the episode " The Habitation Configuration", in which he appears on "Fun With Flags" in exchange for lunch and gas money, and again in the November 2014 episode " The Champagne Reflection", in which he returns for the 232nd episode of "Fun With Flags" in exchange for Sheldon deleting his contact details. In 2012, he had a recurring role as dean Paul Haley on the TNT series ''Perception''. For the second season (2013), he became part of the regular cast. In 2014, he had a guest appearance in an introduction section for the 200th episode of Achievement Hunter's show, ''Achievement Hunter Weekly Update'' (AHWU). In May 2014, he appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel ''
SciShow ''SciShow'' is a collection of YouTube channels that focuses on science news. The program is hosted by Hank Green along with a rotating cast of co-hosts. ''SciShow'' was launched as an YouTube Original Channel Initiative, original channel. The ...
'', explaining the science behind
double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...
,
tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
, and
quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
rainbows. Late in 2014, he had another guest appearance on a 24-hour Extra Life, a fundraising organization for Children's Miracle Network hospitals, stream by
Rooster Teeth Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC was an American entertainment company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth was a subsidiary o ...
. Burton has also taped a recycling field trip for YouTube. In November 2020, he appeared as himself on '' The Eric Andre Show''. His segment was a callback to Lance Reddick's interview (2013) in which he mentioned LeVar by name and dressed as an amalgam of Kunta Kinte and Geordi La Forge. Burton served as a guest host on ''
Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
'' from July 26 to 30, 2021. This came after a petition asking the show's producers to select him was signed by more than 250,000 fans. The ratings during his appearance were below average due to tapering audience curiosity and forced viewership competition with NBC's coverage of the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
in Tokyo, which trampled syndicated shows across the board. He has been very critical of the show's guest host process, stating that the show's then executive producer Mike Richards expressed disbelief about Burton wanting the job. According to Burton, Richards also claimed to have no interest in hosting the show himself even though this was disproven by later events. However, he would later say that the experience taught him that there is a "perfect nature of all things". In June 2022, Burton hosted the 94th Scripps National Spelling Bee. Burton also teaches the "Power of Storytelling" in the MasterClass.


Directing

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 ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...
'', '' JAG'', ''
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
'',
Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
, and '' Soul Food: The Series'', as well as the miniseries '' Miracle's Boys'' and the biopic '' The Tiger Woods Story''. He also directed the 1999
Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...
'' Smart House'' starring
Katey Sagal Catherine Louise Sagal (born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997), Leela on '' Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), Cate He ...
, Kevin Kilner and Jessica Steen. In August 2020, it was revealed that Burton will sit in the director's chair for ''Two-Front War'' from Lou Reda Productions, a multi-perspective docuseries will give "an emotionally raw look at the connection between the fight for civil rights in America and the struggle for equality of Black soldiers in Vietnam". His first theatrical film direction was ''
Blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
'' (2003), for which he received a "Best of Fest" award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and a
Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...
nomination for his work on the film's theme song, "Center of My Heart". Burton was an alternate board director in 2000 and was elected to the board of directors for the
Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...
in 2005 and re-elected in 2007. For his commitment to public service, Burton was awarded the Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service in 2023.


Personal life

LeVar Burton married Stephanie Cozart, a professional make-up artist, on October 3, 1992. Burton has two children, including Mica Burton. The family lives in
Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...
. Burton does not identify with any religion, saying: "I walked away from the seminary, I walked away from Catholicism, I walked away from organized religion because I felt that there was more for me to explore in the world, and that I could do that without adhering to one specific belief system or another." In 2012, Burton joined the board of directors for the AIDS Research Alliance, a non-profit, medical research organization dedicated to finding a cure for AIDS. In 2016, Burton was one of the five inaugural honorees to the Sacramento Walk of Stars. In 2019, Councilmember Larry Carr, representing the Meadowview neighborhood, led the renaming of Richfield Park to LeVar Burton Park in his honor. The park is in the Meadowview neighborhood, near the house where Burton and his sisters grew up. In 2024, while on the show ''
Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...
'', Burton discovered that he has a white, Confederate great-great-grandfather.


Filmography


Awards and honors


Awards


Nominations

* 1977:
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
– Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Performance in a Drama or Comedy Series – ''Roots'' (Part 1, "Kunta Kinte") * 1998, 2001, 2005:
Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...
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) * 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999: Daytime Emmy – Outstanding Children's Series – ''Reading Rainbow'' (Executive Producer) * 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007: Daytime Emmy – Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series – ''Reading Rainbow'' (Self) * 2004:
Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...
– Best Achievement in Music-Original Song – ''Blizzard'' (Co-composer "Center of My Heart") * 2006:
Black Reel Award The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African Americans in film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...
– Best Director-Television – ''Miracle's Boys''


Wins

* 1990: Star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
at 7030 Hollywood Boulevard ''for television achievement'' * 1992:
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
– ''Reading Rainbow'' (as executive producer of episode, "The Wall") * 1994, 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.'' * 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007: 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) * 2003: Audie Award for Inspirational or Spiritual Title – '' Conversations with God for Teens'' * 2004: Chicago International Children's Film Festival – Best of Fest – ''Blizzard'' (Director) * 2010: Audie Awards for Audiobook of the Year and Multi-Voiced Performance – Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales * 2012: Audie Award for Original Work – '' METAtropolis: Cascadia'' * 2022: Children's and Family Emmys – Lifetime Achievement Award * 2023: National Humanities Medal - For literacy work * 2024:
Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
– Lifetime Achievement Award – The Cast of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' * 2024: 9th Shorty Impact Awards – Changemaker of the Year


Books

* ''Aftermath'', 1997, * ''The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm'', 2014, * ''A Kids Book About Imagination'', 2021,


See also

* *


Notes


References


Further reading

* 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.


External links

*
RRKIDZ (Reading Rainbow) – LeVar Burton, Co-Founder, Curator-in-Chief

Burton / Wolfe Entertainment
(production company) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Levar 1957 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American religious skeptics African-American television directors African-American television personalities American book podcasters American HIV/AIDS activists American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American television directors Daytime Emmy Award winners Former Roman Catholics Grammy Award winners Living people Male actors from California Male actors from Sacramento, California PBS people People from Landstuhl People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles Reading Rainbow USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni