LeVar Burton

Acting

LeVar Burton

Born 1957-02-16 · Landstuhl, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany

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.

Acting credits

One Night Only poster
7.0

Two love-starved strangers crash into each other on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex.

One Night Only

2026

Star Trek: First Contact poster
7.3

The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.

Star Trek: First Contact

1996

Ali poster
6.7

In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.

Ali

2001

Star Trek: Nemesis poster
6.3

En route to the honeymoon of William Riker to Deanna Troi on her home planet of Betazed, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise receives word from Starfleet that a coup has resulted in the installation of a new Romulan political leader, Shinzon, who claims to seek peace with the human-backed United Federation of Planets. Once in enemy territory, the captain and his crew make a startling discovery: Shinzon is human, a slave from the Romulan sister planet of Remus, and has a secret, shocking relationship to Picard himself.

Star Trek: Nemesis

2002

Star Trek: Insurrection poster
6.5

When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to defend the planet's people as well as the very ideals upon which the Federation itself was founded.

Star Trek: Insurrection

1998

Rise of the Zombies poster
4.2

When zombies overrun San Francisco, a desperate group survives by locking themselves inside Alcatraz Prison. When the undead breach the island, our heroes are forced to return to the mainland overrun with the undead.

Rise of the Zombies

2012

Star Trek: Generations poster
6.5

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves at odds with the renegade scientist Soran who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme...and he's been dead for seventy-eight years.

Star Trek: Generations

1994

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies poster
7.1

United States President Lex Luthor uses the oncoming trajectory of a Kryptonite meteor to frame Superman and declare a $1 billion bounty on the heads of the Man of Steel and his ‘partner in crime’, Batman. Heroes and villains alike launch a relentless pursuit of Superman and Batman, who must unite—and recruit help—to try and stave off the action-packed onslaught, stop the meteor Luthors plot.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

2009

40 Years of Star Trek poster
3.8

The Space Channel celebrates the 40th anniversary of the original STAR TREK. Produced by Mark Askwith, hosted by Jonathan Llyr and featuring interviews with George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, William Shatner, Peter David, Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, F. Murray Abraham, Lawrence Montaigne, Leonard Nimoy, Garrett Wang, France Nuyen, Michael Reeve, George Clayton Johnson, Denise Crosby, Marc Scott Zicree, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, D.C. Fontana, Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock, DeForest Kelley, LeVar Burton, Dr. Mae Jemison, Rob Salem, Walter Koenig, J.G. Hertzler, Dean Devlin, Harlan Ellison, Richard Arnold, Jeffrey Combs, Rick Berman, Bjo Trimble, Jim Lee, Alice Cooper, and Robert Picardo.

40 Years of Star Trek

2006

The Muppets Go Hollywood poster
6.2

Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movie. Hosts Dick van Dyke and Rita Moreno interview the wide array of celebrities and Muppets who attend the event. Gary Owens serves as off-camera announcer, and appears on-screen to introduce Miss Piggy.

The Muppets Go Hollywood

1979

Blizzard poster
6.0

A young girl's aunt tells her the tale of a young ice skater and an enchanted reindeer.

Blizzard

2003

Looking for Mr. Goodbar poster
6.3

A short, unhappy affair with a married man leads a dedicated schoolteacher into the alcohol-and-drug fueled underworld of singles’ bars, where she begins to engage in a pattern of dangerous sexual activity.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

1977

Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland poster
5.3

Based on the actual events of the 1991 brush fires that swept across Northern California, which left countless people without homes. A rookie fire chief, who just started his new job, must deal with the raging fires.

Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland

1993

Central Park poster
7.5

CENTRAL PARK is a film about the famous New York City landmark and the variety of ways in which people make use of it: running, boating, walking, skating, music, theatre, sports, picnics, parades and concerts. The film also illustrates the complex problems the New York City Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park and keep it open and accessible to the public.

Central Park

1990

The Hunter poster
5.9

During his long career, bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson has caught over 5,000 criminals. Now, while he is working on apprehending fugitives in Illinois, Texas and Nebraska, he himself is being hunted by a psychotic killer.

The Hunter

1980

Parallel Lives poster
5.7

A college reunion turns into a tangled web of passion, romance and intrigue as old friends and enemies catch up with each other's lives. Includes a long list of stars.

Parallel Lives

1994

Our Friend, Martin poster
7.1

Two teens are sent back in time to meet Martin Luther King Jr. at several points during his life.

Our Friend, Martin

1999

Lennon or McCartney poster
5.3

550 artists were interviewed over ten years. At some point during those interviews, they were asked a question and told to answer with one word only. Some stuck to one, some said more, some answered quickly, some thought it through, and some didn't answer at all. That question… Lennon or McCartney?

Lennon or McCartney

2014

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool poster
5.9

Friends, family, co-stars and admirers of actor Steve McQueen talk about his life and his movie career.

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool

2005

Remembering Roots poster
NR

The cast and crew of Roots (1977) recall its phenomenal success on its 25th anniversary.

Remembering Roots

2002

And They're Off poster
4.1

A comedy centered on a failed horse trainer who desperately wants to be back in the winner's circle.

And They're Off

2011

The Midnight Hour poster
5.9

Phil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinnie are high school friends, who unwittingly raise the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead have returned, Pitchford Cove will never be the same again....or will it?

The Midnight Hour

1985

Trekkies poster
6.3

Denise Crosby takes a first look at the huge fans of "Star Trek" from around America and how the series has affected and shaped their lives.

Trekkies

1997

Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation poster
7.0

Your destination: the 24th century. Your mission: to voyage where few have gone before--behind the scenes of Star Trek: The Next Generation! Join Jonathan Frakes, Next Generation's Commander William Riker, for this fascinating chronicle of Gene Roddenberry's beloved, Emmy Award-winning series. You'll explore the Enterprise, meet the show's stars (and some villainous guest stars), learn special-effects secrets and makeup magic, and finally get the answer to that nagging question, "Where is the bathroom on the Enterprise?" Other highlights include a visit to a Star Trek convention, and a stop at the scoring stage to watch Marina Sirtis (Lt. Commander Deanna Troi) lead the orchestra in a recording session. This program concludes with a special look at the series' thrilling final episode ("All Good Things . . .") and a sneak peak at the crew's movie debut, Star Trek: Generations. So set a course for an adventure like no other.

Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation

1994

Behind the camera