LeVar Burton, born in 1957, is an accomplished American actor, director, and television host. He gained prominence for his role as Kunta Kinte in the miniseries *Roots*, portraying Geordi La Forge in *Star Trek: The Next Generation*, and most notably as the host of the educational children's program *Reading Rainbow* for 23 years. Burton's work on *Reading Rainbow* earned him 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, recognizing his contributions to children's literacy and education. His career spans various genres and mediums, solidifying his status as a significant figure in entertainment and education.
On February 16, 1957, Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. was born. He is an American actor, director, and television host.
In 1983, LeVar Burton became the host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow for PBS. The series ran for 23 seasons.
In 1986, Gene Roddenberry approached LeVar Burton for the role of Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In 1986, LeVar Burton appeared in the music video for the song "Word Up!" by the funk/R&B group Cameo.
In 1987, LeVar Burton played Dave Robinson, a journalist, in the Murder, She Wrote episode "Death Takes a Dive".
From 1982 until 1988, LeVar Burton appeared several times as a celebrity guest on the Dick Clark-hosted $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids.
In 1988, LeVar Burton reprised his role as Kunta Kinte in the television film Roots: The Gift.
From 1990, LeVar Burton voiced Kwame in the cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
In 1990, LeVar Burton was honored for his accomplishments in television with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On October 3, 1992, LeVar Burton married Stephanie Cozart, a professional make-up artist.
In 1992, a clip of LeVar Burton's voice was sampled by DC Talk for the track "Time is..." on their album Free at Last.
In 1999, LeVar Burton directed the Disney Channel Original Movie "Smart House" starring Katey Sagal, Kevin Kilner and Jessica Steen.
In 2000, LeVar Burton became an alternate board director.
In 2003, LeVar Burton's first theatrical film direction, "Blizzard", earned him a "Best of Fest" award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and a Genie Award nomination for his work on the film's theme song, "Center of My Heart".
In 2005, LeVar Burton was elected to the board of directors for the Directors Guild of America.
In 2006, Reading Rainbow went off the air, after which LeVar Burton and his business partner acquired the global rights to the brand and formed RRKIDZ.
As of 2007, LeVar Burton was the host and executive producer of a documentary titled The Science of Peace, investigating science and technology for world peace.
In 2007, LeVar Burton was re-elected to the board of directors for the Directors Guild of America.
In 2010, LeVar Burton made an appearance on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as the ghost of himself in the episode "Greene Machine".
In 2010, LeVar Burton participated in the Consumer Electronics Show.
In February 2011, LeVar Burton made an appearance as himself on NBC's Community in the episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking".
In November 2012, LeVar Burton appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on The Big Bang Theory episode "The Habitation Configuration", appearing on "Fun With Flags" in exchange for lunch and gas money.
In 2012, LeVar Burton had a recurring role as dean Paul Haley on the TNT series Perception.
In 2012, LeVar Burton joined the board of directors for the AIDS Research Alliance, a non-profit, medical research organization dedicated to finding a cure for AIDS.
In 2012, Reading Rainbow was reimagined as an all new application for the iPad, becoming the number-one educational application within 36 hours.
In May 2014, LeVar Burton appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel SciShow, explaining the science behind double, tertiary, and quaternary rainbows.
On May 28, 2014, LeVar Burton and coworkers started a Kickstarter campaign to bring back Reading Rainbow, raising over $5 million, triple its goal in three days, to create a web-based program integrated into elementary school classrooms.
In the November 2014 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Champagne Reflection", LeVar Burton returned for the 232nd episode of "Fun With Flags" in exchange for Sheldon deleting his contact details.
In 2016, LeVar Burton was one of the five inaugural honorees to the Sacramento Walk of Stars.
In 2017, LeVar Burton began a podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, featuring him reading short fiction and sharing his thoughts.
In 2017, LeVar Burton was sued by WNED-TV for copyright infringement related to the Reading Rainbow brand in marketing the iPad app, leading RRKIDZ to become LeVar Burton Kids and the app to be renamed Skybrary.
In 2019, Richfield Park in the Meadowview neighborhood, near LeVar Burton's childhood home, was renamed LeVar Burton Park in his honor.
In August 2020, LeVar Burton was revealed to be directing "Two-Front War" from Lou Reda Productions, a docuseries providing an emotionally raw look at the connection between the fight for civil rights in America and the struggle for equality of Black soldiers in Vietnam.
In November 2020, LeVar Burton appeared as himself on The Eric Andre Show, referencing Lance Reddick's 2013 interview.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, LeVar Burton continued his podcast and gave live readings three times a week via a Twitter livestream.
In 2021, LeVar Burton served as a guest host on Jeopardy! from July 26 to 30 after a fan petition, but ratings were below average, and he criticized the guest host process.
In June 2022, LeVar Burton hosted the 94th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In 2023, LeVar Burton launched a second podcast called Sound Detectives, this time for children.
In 2023, LeVar Burton was awarded the Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service for his commitment to public service.
In 2023, LeVar Burton's podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, won the Webby Award for Best Art and Culture Podcast.
In October 2024, LeVar Burton became the host of the Trivial Pursuit game show on The CW.
In 2024, during his appearance on "Finding Your Roots", LeVar Burton discovered he had a white, Confederate great-great-grandfather and a Black great-great-grandfather, Hal B. Burton, who was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives.
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