LeVar Burton
Biography
LeVar Burton is an American actor who also works as a director and television host, and his breakthrough came as the young Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots, a role that earned him an Emmy nomination. He went on to play Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in Star Trek films such as Star Trek: Generations (1994) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He hosted and executive produced the PBS educational series Reading Rainbow for 23 years, winning a Peabody Award and 12 Daytime Emmy Awards. His film work includes Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Hunter (1980), for which he won an NAACP Image Award, and Ali (2001), as Martin Luther King Jr. He won a Grammy for narrating The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. and directed episodes of several Star Trek series. He created and was host of the podcast LeVar Burton Reads and began hosting Trivial Pursuit on The CW in 2024.
69years old
Turns 70 on February 16in 124 days
- Born Landstuhl
- Star sign: AquariusThe sign runs January 20 to February 18
- Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (birth name)Also credited as Levardis Burton Jr. and Levardis Burton
Movie Career
- Films
- 20
- Career span
- 49 years1977 to 2026
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A first
Burton directed episodes for each Star Trek series that was in production during the 1990s and early 2000s. No other former regular cast member has directed more Star Trek episodes than he has.
First role
In 1977, Burton began his acting career with Almos' a Man, a television film adapted from Richard Wright's short story, and he appears in it with Madge Sinclair.
Behind the camera
Burton's first theatrical film as a director was Blizzard (2003), which earned him a Best of Fest award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
LeVar Burton movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Jonathan Frakes directed two of these films. Three actors appear in seven of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Michael Dorn's page
Brent Spiner's page
Jonathan Frakes's page
Patrick Stewart's page
Marina Sirtis's page
Gates McFadden's page
Box office
What LeVar Burton's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$578 million
8 of the 20 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 20 films: 8 worldwide figure; 3 us gross only; 6 never in cinemas; 3 figure not found.
- 8Worldwide figure
- 3US gross only
- 6Never in cinemas
- 3Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$146M25.3% of the total
- 2$118M20.4% of the total
- 3$113M19.5% of the total
- 4$88M15.2% of the total
- 5$67M11.6% of the total
- 6$23M3.9% of the total
- 7$16M2.7% of the total
- 8$8.0M1.4% of the total
Awards
Eleven awards and honors from 1980 to 2023, two of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmy Awards | |||
| Daytime Emmy Award | Won | ||
| Grammy Awards | |||
| 1999 | Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 2023 | National Humanities Medal | Won | |
| 2020 | Ignyte Award for Best Fiction Podcast | Won | |
| 2020 | The Ember Award | Won | |
| 2003 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | Reading Rainbow | Won |
| 2002 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | Reading Rainbow | Won |
| 1999 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | Reading Rainbow | Won |
| 1994 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | Reading Rainbow | Won |
| 1980 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture | The Hunter | Won |
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.