LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton, born Levardis Robert Burton Jr. on February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, West Germany, is an American actor, director, and television host. He is best known for three major roles: Kunta Kinte in the 1977 ABC miniseries *Roots*, Geordi La Forge on *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987–1994), and as the host of the PBS Kids series *Reading Rainbow* for 23 years (1983–2006). His work on *Reading Rainbow* earned him 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award as both host and executive producer. Additionally, he won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards for narrating *The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.*.

Burton’s mother, Erma Gene Ward, a social worker, administrator, and educator, raised him and his two sisters in Sacramento, California. His father, LeVar Burton Sr., was a photographer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps stationed in West Germany at the time of his birth. His paternal grandparents were educators in rural Arkansas, and his great-great grandfather, Hal B. Burton, served as an African-American state legislator in Arkansas after Reconstruction, representing Jefferson County in 1887. Raised Catholic, Burton took the name Martyn at his confirmation and dropped “Jr.” He briefly attended St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Galt, California, intending to become a priest, but at 17, he questioned the faith and shifted to acting. At 19, while an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, he landed his starring role in *Roots*.

Burton made his acting debut in 1977 with the television film *Almos' a Man*, based on Richard Wright’s short story, co-starring Madge Sinclair. That same year, he played Cap Jackson in *Looking for Mr. Goodbar*. His other early roles include Donald Lang in *Dummy* (1979) and Tommy Price in *The Hunter* (1980), the latter earning him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. In the late 1970s, he hosted *Rebop*, a multicultural PBS series for young audiences. His breakthrough as Kunta Kinte in *Roots* brought an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance. He later reprised the role in the 1988 television film *Roots: The Gift*. Burton has noted that *Roots* expanded consciousness, helping people see each other as human beings rather than stereotypes.

From 1983 to 2006, Burton hosted and executive produced *Reading Rainbow* on PBS. After the series ended, he and business partner Mark Wolfe acquired global rights to the brand, forming RRKIDZ (later LeVar Burton Kids). They reimagined the show as an iPad app in 2012, which became the number-one educational app within 36 hours. In 2014, Burton launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring *Reading Rainbow* back as a web-based program, raising over $5 million in three days. He aimed to integrate it into elementary classrooms, with free access for schools in need. In 2017, WNED-TV sued Burton for alleged copyright infringement over use of the brand in marketing the app and online media; the app was later renamed Skybrary.

In 1986, Gene Roddenberry offered Burton the role of Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge on *Star Trek: The Next Generation*. The character, blind but using a VISOR prosthetic to see, started as the USS Enterprise’s helmsman and became chief engineer in the second season. Burton also played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2001 film *Ali*. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. From 2017 to 2024, he created and hosted the podcast *LeVar Burton Reads*, described as “Reading Rainbow for adults.” Since October 2024, he has hosted the *Trivial Pursuit* game show on The CW.