Known For
Acting
Born
Feb 16, 1957
Place of Birth
Landstuhl, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany
Credits
141 titles
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.
Known For
Filmography
One Night Only
Strip Law
(voice)
Weather Hunters
Flexspecs (voice)
To the Journey: Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager
Self
Trivial Pursuit
Self - Host
Butterfly in the Sky
Self
Carol & the End of the World
(voice)
100 Years of Warner Bros.
Self
Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event
Commodore Geordi La Forge
The Right to Read
Executive Producer
Tom Swift
Barclay (voice)
Secrets of Sacred Architecture
Narrator (voice)
The Shuttlepod Show
Self
The Legend of Vox Machina
Undead Thordak (voice)
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Self
NCIS: Hawaiʻi
Director
Leverage: Redemption
Mr. Blanche
INVINCIBLE
Suit AI (voice)
Beyond the Spotlight
Definition Please
LeVar Burton
Star Trek: Picard
Commodore Geordi La Forge
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
Weird City
Dr. Negari
The Ready Room
Self
Brentwood
LeVar Burton
Explained
Narrator (voice)
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Kwame
Transformers: Rescue Bots - Rescue Family
School of the Future
Roots
Ephraim
Lennon or McCartney
Self
Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things...
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
A Star Is Drawn: Rob Simone's Look Inside Comic-Con
Self
NCIS: New Orleans
Director
Scorpion
Director
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification
PBS News Weekend
Himself (voice)
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge (archive footage)
Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation
Self
Rise of the Zombies
Dr. Dan Halpern
Stardate Revisited - The Origin of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Self
Perception
Paul Haley
The Eric Andre Show
Self
Finding Your Roots
Transformers: Rescue Bots
Doc Green (voice)
And They're Off
Self
The Jensen Project
Kendrick