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Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
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Louisa Burns-Bisogno to Jason Carter
LeVar Burton Biography (1957-)
Full name, Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr.; born February 16, 1957, in Landsthul, West Germany (now Germany); son of Levardis Robert Martyn (a photographer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps) and Erma (an educator, social worker, andadministrator; maiden name, Christian) Burton; married Stephanie Cozart (a makeup artist), October 3, 1992; children: Eian, Michaela. Addresses: Agent: Paradigm, 360 North Crescent Dr., North Building, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.; Manager: The Marion Rosenberg Office, P.O. Box 69826, Los Angeles, CA 90069.; Publicist: Jonas Public Relations, 240 26th St., Suite 3, Santa Monica,CA 90402.; Office: Eagle Nation Films, 5555 Melrose Ave., Dietrich Bldg Suite 207, Los Angeles, CA 90038.
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Actor, director, producer, writer
- Birth Details
- February 16, 1957
- Landstuhl, West Germany
Famous Works
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CREDITS
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Television Appearances
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Series
- Host, Rebop, PBS, 1978-79
- Himself in recurring appearances, The $50,000 Pyramid, syndicated,1981
- Host, Reading Rainbow, PBS, c. 1983-2005
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known as The Next Generation and Star Trek: TNG), syndicated, 1987-94
- Voice of Kwame and opening narrator, Captain Planet and the Planeteers (animated), TBS and syndicated, 1990-93
- Voice of Kwame, The New Adventures of Captain Planet (animated), TBS and syndicated, 1993-96
- Daniel "Dan" Scott, Christy (also known as Catherine Marshall's"Christy"), CBS, 1994-95
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Miniseries
- Kunta Kinte/Toby Reynolds, Roots, ABC, 1977
- Richard Jefferson, Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (also known as The Mad Messiah), CBS, 1980
- Professor Slade Preston, The Jesse Owens Story, syndicated, 1984
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Movies
- Billy Peoples, Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (also known as Ghetto Child), CBS, 1977
- Andrew Sinclair, Battered, NBC, 1978
- Ron LeFlore, One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story (also known as Man of Passion), CBS, 1978
- Donald Lang, Dummy, CBS, 1979
- Charles "Tank" Smith, Grambling's White Tiger, NBC, 1981
- Rodney, The Acorn People, NBC, 1981
- Ray Walden, Emergency Room, syndicated, 1983
- Vinnie Davis, The Midnight Hour (also known as In the MidnightHour), ABC, 1985
- Robert Johnson, Liberty, NBC, 1986
- Ben Sumner, A Special Friendship, CBS, 1987
- Kunta Kinte, Roots: The Gift (also known as A Roots Christmas:Kunta Kinte's Gift), ABC, 1988
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Redemption II, 1991
- Fire chief J. Allan Mather, Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (also known as Firestorm: A Catastrophe in Oakland), ABC, 1993
- Dr. Franklin Carter, Parallel Lives, Showtime, 1994
- Winstrom, Yesterday's Target, Showtime, 1996
- Himself, Dancing in September, HBO, 2000
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Television Appearances: Specials
- Himself, Battle of the Network Stars, ABC, 1976
- Himself, Battle of the Network Stars II, ABC, 1977
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Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes, CBS, 1977
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The Paul Lynde Comedy Hour, ABC, 1977
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Battle of the Network Stars V, ABC, 1978
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Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes, CBS, 1979
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The Celebrity Football Classic, NBC, 1979
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I Love Liberty, ABC, 1982
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Booth, PBS, 1984
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Breathing Easy, PBS, 1984
- (As Levar Burton) Himself, Farm Aid '87, 1987
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Living the Dream: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, 1988
- (Uncredited) Himself, The Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special, syndicated, 1991
- Geordi La Forge, Comic Relief VI, HBO, 1994
- Himself, Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek--The Next Generation(documentary), 1994
- Himself, Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond, UPN, 1996
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It's a Wonderful Cyberlife: A Holiday Buying Guide, The DiscoveryChannel, 1996
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LeVar Burton Presents: A Reading Rainbow Special (also known as LeVar Burton Presents "Act against Violence": A Reading Rainbow Special), PBS, 1996
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50 Years of Television: A Celebration of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Golden Anniversary (documentary), HBO, 1997
- (As Levar Burton) Voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. in his twenties, Our Friend, Martin (live action and animated), Starz!, 1999
- (In archive footage) Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments,UPN, 1999
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Snowfest 2000, PAX TV, 2000
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The 70th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, syndicated, 2001
- Host, Roots--Celebrating 25 Years: The Saga of an American Classic(documentary; also known as Roots: Celebrating 25 Years), NBC, 2002
- Himself, Inside TV Land: African Americans in Television (documentary), TV Land, 2002
- Presenter, ABC 50th Anniversary Celebration, ABC, 2003
- Commentator, TV Revolution (documentary), Bravo, 2004
- Host, Mission: Space (documentary), PAX TV, 2004
- Himself, Emmy's Greatest Moments, 2004
- Himself, The N-Word (documentary), Trio, 2004
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Miracle's Boys: The Making of a Miniseries (documentary), 2004
- Himself, Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool (documentary), TNT andTCM, 2005
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Television Appearances
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Awards Presentations
- Presenter, The 19th Annual NAACP Image Awards, 1987
- Presenter, The 20th NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1988
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The 18th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, CBS, 1991
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The 23rd Annual NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1991
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The 19th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, NBC, 1992
- Host, The American Television Awards, ABC, 1993
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The 48th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (also known as The 1996 Emmy Awards), ABC, 1996
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The 27th Annual NAACP Image Awards (also known as NAACP Image Awards), Fox, 1996
- Presenter, Caribbean Music Awards, syndicated, 1997
- Presenter, The 28th NAACP Image Awards, Fox, 1997
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The Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as 1997 Screen Actors Guild Awards and The 33rd Screen Actors Guild Awards), NBC, 1997
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The 29th NAACP Image Awards, 1998
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The 30th NAACP Image Awards, 1999
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The Second Annual Family Television Awards, CBS, 2000
- Presenter, The 29th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, CBS, 2002
- Presenter, The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, ABC, 2003
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Episodic
- Himself, Dinah!, syndicated, 1977
- Himself, The $20,000 Pyramid, ABC, 1977
- Dave, "Almos' a Man," American Short Story, PBS, 1978
- "A Salute to the Brownings," Anyone for Tennyson?, PBS, 1978
- Himself, The American Sportsman, ABC, 1982
- "A Piece of the Action," Trapper John, M.D., CBS, 1982
- Himself, The $25,000 Pyramid, CBS, 1982
- Edward Ross, Jr., "Edward/The Extraordinary Miss Jones," Fantasy Island, ABC, 1983
- Davis, "Booker," WonderWorks, PBS, 1984
- "Love Is Blind," The Love Boat, ABC, 1984
- Glenn Scott, "And the Children Shall Lead," WonderWorks, PBS, 1986
- Dave Robinson, "Death Takes a Dive," Murder, She Wrote, CBS, 1987
- Evans, "Bad Girl," Houston Knights, CBS, 1987
- Voice of Hayden Sloane, "The Worry Men," Batman: The Animated Series (animated; also known as Batman), The WB, 1993
- Mr. Metcalf, "The Boss," Deadly Games, UPN, 1995
- Voice of Anansi, "Mark of the Panther," Gargoyles (animated), TheDisney Channel, 1996
- Captain Geordi LaForge, "Timeless," Star Trek: Voyager (also knownas Voyager), UPN, 1998
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Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, PBS, 1998
- Mr. Haller, "Beckerethics," Becker, CBS, 2000
- Himself, "Star Trek Edition," Weakest Link, NBC, 2001
- Himself, Larry King Live, Cable News Network, 2001
- Himself, "Indy Filmmakers," Mornings on IMC, 2003
- Marvin Lloyd, "The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang," Boomtown, NBC, 2003
- Himself, Mad TV, Fox, 2003
- Himself, Tinseltown TV, International Channel, 2004
- Himself, "Hollywood Home Game," World Poker Tour, Travel Channel,2005
- Himself, Tavis Smiley, PBS, 2005
- Contributor of a voice characterization, "The Frog Prince," Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (animated), HBO; appeared in episodes of other television series.
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Pilots
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: The Next Generation--Encounter at Farpoint (also known as Encounter at Farpoint), syndicated, 1987
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Television Work
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Series
- Executive producer and contributing producer, Reading Rainbow, PBS, c. 1983-2005
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Television Director
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Miniseries
- "Free Day," Miracle's Boys, Noggin, 2005
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Movies
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The Tiger Woods Story, Showtime, 1998
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Smart House, The Disney Channel, 1999
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Television Work
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Specials
- Producer, LeVar Burton Presents: A Reading Rainbow Special (also known as LeVar Burton Presents "Act against Violence": A Reading Rainbow Special), PBS, 1996
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Television Director
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Episodic
- "Pegasus," Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known as The Next Generation and Star Trek: TNG), syndicated, 1993
- "Second Chances," Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known as The Next Generation and Star Trek: TNG), syndicated, 1993
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (also known as DS9,
Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: DS9), syndicated, various episodes from 1995-99
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Star Trek: Voyager (also known as Voyager), UPN, various episodes from 1995-2001
- "Samurai Secrets," Soul Food, Showtime, 2000
- "Nice Work If You Can Get It," Soul Food, Showtime, 2001
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Star Trek: Enterprise (also known as Enterprise), UPN, various episodes from 2001-2005
- "Pulse Rate," JAG, CBS, 2003
- "Extreme Makeover: Worlds Edition," Charmed, The WB, 2005
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Film Appearances
- Cap Jackson, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Paramount, 1977
- Tommy Price, The Hunter, Paramount, 1980
- Private Michael Osgood, The Supernaturals, Republic EntertainmentInternational, 1986
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: Generations (alsoknown as Star Trek VII and Star Trek 7), Paramount, 1994
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: First Contact (also known as Star Trek: Borg,
Star Trek: Destinies,
Star Trek: Future Generations,
Star Trek: Generations II,
Star Trek: Resurrection), Paramount, 1996
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge and himself, Trekkies (documentary), Paramount Classics, 1997
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: Insurrection (also known as Star Trek 9), Paramount, 1998
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Ali, Columbia, 2001
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: Nemesis, Paramount, 2002
- (In archive footage) Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (documentary), 2004
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Film Director
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Blizzard, 2003
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RECORDINGS
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Video Games
- Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: The Next Generation--A Final Unity, 1995
- Voice of Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: Generations, 1997
- (In archive footage) Lieutenant commander Geordi La Forge, Star Trek:The Next Generation Companion, 1999
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Music Videos
- Police lieutenant, Cameo, "Word Up," c. 1986
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Audiobooks
- Arnold Rampersad, Jackie Robinson: A Biography, Random Audio, 1997
- Christopher Paul Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Bantam Audio, 1997
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The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Time Warner Audiobooks, 1999
- George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life Is So Good, Audio Literature, 2000
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WRITINGS
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Screenplays
- Wrote Malidoma and Masters of the Far East.
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Film Music
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Songs for Films
- (With David Martin and Pamela Phillips Oland) "Center of My Heart," Blizzard, 2003
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Novels
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Aftermath, Warner Books, 1996, also produced as an audiobook
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Nonfiction
- (Author of introduction) Twila Christensen Liggett and Cynthia Mayer Benfield, Reading Rainbow Guide to Children's Books: The 101 Best Titles,Carol Publishing Group, 1994
Further Reference
OTHER SOURCES
Books
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Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 8, Gale, 1995
- Van Hise, James, Trek: The Next Generation, Pioneer Books, 1991
Periodicals
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Booklist, November 1, 1996, p. 459
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DreamWatch, February, 1999, pp. 24-25
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Library Journal, December, 1996, p. 152
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Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2002
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NEA Today, November, 1995, p. 7
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Parade, June 20, 1999, pp. 4-5
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People Weekly, March 7, 1988, p. 65
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Publishers Weekly, December 9, 1996, p. 64
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Starlog, January, 1991; May, 1997
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Star Trek Communicator, March, 1997, pp. 18-21; April, 1998, pp. 32-34
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TV Guide, August 13, 1988, p. 12; November 14, 1998, p. 4; June 21, 2003, p. 15
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TV Zone, September, 1996, pp. 39-43
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