Person
LeVar Burton
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 (1987–1…
IMDbKnown for
Popular titles
Photos
More stills of LeVar Burton
Biography
A closer look
Read full 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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2026
One Night Only
Movie Rick
-
2026
Strip Law
TV show (voice)
-
2025
Weather Hunters
TV show Flexspecs (voice)
- 2024
-
2024
Trivial Pursuit
TV show Self - Host
-
2024
Butterfly in the Sky
Movie Self
-
2023
Carol & the End of the World
TV show (voice)
-
2023
100 Years of Warner Bros.
TV show Self
-
2023
Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event
Movie Commodore Geordi La Forge
-
2023
The Right to Read
Movie Executive Producer
-
2022
Tom Swift
TV show Barclay (voice)
-
2022
Secrets of Sacred Architecture
Movie Narrator (voice)
-
2022
The Shuttlepod Show
TV show Self
-
2022
The Legend of Vox Machina
TV show Undead Thordak (voice)
-
2021
The Problem with Jon Stewart
TV show Self
-
2021
NCIS: Hawaiʻi
TV show Director
More credits
-
2021
Leverage: Redemption
TV show Mr. Blanche
-
2021
INVINCIBLE
TV show Suit AI (voice)
-
2020
Beyond the Spotlight
TV show
-
2020
Definition Please
Movie LeVar Burton
-
2020
Star Trek: Picard
TV show Commodore Geordi La Forge
-
2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV show Self
-
2019
Tamron Hall
TV show Self - Guest
-
2019
Weird City
TV show Dr. Negari
-
2019
The Ready Room
TV show Self
-
2018
Brentwood
Movie LeVar Burton
-
2018
Explained
TV show Narrator (voice)
-
2017
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
TV show Kwame
- 2017
-
2016
School of the Future
Movie
-
2016
Roots
TV show Ephraim
-
2014
Lennon or McCartney
Movie Self
-
2014
Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things...
Movie Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
- 2014
-
2014
NCIS: New Orleans
TV show Director
-
2014
Scorpion
TV show Director
-
2014
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command
Movie Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
-
2013
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification
Movie Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
-
2013
PBS News Weekend
TV show Himself (voice)
-
2013
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption
Movie Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
