Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
February 16, 1957
Place of Birth:
Landstuhl, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany
Social Media
LeVar Burton
Biography
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 (1977), and was the host of the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for 23 years (1983–2006). Burton received 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award 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. 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.
From 2017 until 2024, Burton created and hosted the podcast LeVar Burton Reads, often described as "Reading Rainbow for adults". In October 2024, Burton appeared as the host of the Trivial Pursuit television game show broadcast on The CW network and streaming online.
Description above from the Wikipedia article about LeVar Burton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Trivial Pursuit | Self - Host |
| 2023 | 100 Years of Warner Bros. | Self |
| 2023 | Carol & the End of the World | (voice) |
| 2022 | Tom Swift | Barclay (voice) |
| 2022 | The Shuttlepod Show | Self |
| 2022 | The Legend of Vox Machina | Undead Thordak (voice) |
| 2021 | Leverage: Redemption | Mr. Blanche |
| 2021 | The Problem with Jon Stewart | Self |
| 2020 | Star Trek: Picard | Commodore Geordi La Forge |
| 2020 | Beyond the Spotlight | |
| 2019 | Tamron Hall | Self - Guest |
| 2019 | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Self |
| 2019 | The Ready Room | Self |
| 2019 | Weird City | Dr. Negari |
| 2018 | Explained | Narrator (voice) |
| 2017 | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | Kwame |
| 2016 | Roots | Ephraim |
| 2013 | PBS News Weekend | Himself (voice) |
| 2012 | Transformers: Rescue Bots | Doc Green (voice) |
| 2012 | Perception | Paul Haley |
| 2012 | The Eric Andre Show | Self |
| 2012 | Finding Your Roots | |
| 2012 | Honest Trailers | Geordi LaForge (archive footage) |
| 2010 | Adventure Time | Bubble (voice) |
| 2009 | Community | LeVar Burton |
| 2009 | Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Self - Guest |
| 2008 | Shatner's Raw Nerve | Self |
| 2007 | The Big Bang Theory | LeVar Burton |
| 2007 | Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | Self |
| 2005 | Hell's Kitchen | Self - Restaurant Patron |
| 2002 | Boomtown | Marvin Lloyd |
| 1999 | Family Guy | Vern (voice) |
| 1999 | Family Guy | LeVar Burton (voice) |
| 1999 | Futurama | Unlicensed Hologram of LeVar Burton (voice) |
| 1998 | Becker | Mr. Haller |
| 1997 | The View | Self - Guest |
| 1996 | The Daily Show | Self |
| 1995 | Star Trek: Voyager | Captain Geordi La Forge |
| 1995 | MADtv | Self |
| 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | The Monk (voice) |
| 1995 | Deadly Games | Mr. Metcalf |
| 1994 | Gargoyles | Anansi/Poacher 2 (voice) |
| 1994 | Christy | Daniel Scott |
| 1992 | Batman: The Animated Series | Hayden Sloane (voice) |
| 1990 | Captain Planet and the Planeteers | Kwame (voice) |
| 1987 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Geordi La Forge |
| 1987 | Houston Knights | Jason Evans |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | Reporter Dave Robinson |
| 1984 | Jeopardy! | Self - Host |
| 1983 | Reading Rainbow | Self - Host |
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Richard Jefferson |
| 1979 | Trapper John, M.D. | |
| 1977 | Roots | Kunta Kinte |
| 1977 | The Love Boat | Darnell Hall |
| 1976 | The Captain and Tennille | Self |
| 1962 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self |
| Scripps National Spelling Bee | Self - Host |