
Place of Birth:
Landstuhl, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany
Date of Birth:
2/16/1957
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.

Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Nemesis
Stardate Revisited - The Origin of Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Hunter

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

The Midnight Hour

I Love Liberty

Secrets of Sacred Architecture

The Jensen Project

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event

Trekkies

Butterfly in the Sky

The Supernaturals

Taken in Broad Daylight

Reach for Me

Star Trek: Federation Science

Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Roots: The Gift

US Against the World

Rise of the Zombies

Our Friend, Martin

The Jesse Owens Story

One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

Dummy

The Acorn People

Emergency Room

Yesterday's Target

Parallel Lives

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool

Almos' a Man

A Star Is Drawn: Rob Simone's Look Inside Comic-Con
Booker

Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland

Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond

Lennon or McCartney

Ali
Grambling's White Tiger

Battered

A Special Friendship

School of the Future

Central Park

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special

40 Years of Star Trek

And the Children Shall Lead

Brentwood

Mickey's 50

Blizzard

The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next

Transformers: Rescue Bots - Rescue Family

Liberty

Definition Please

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds

Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Muppets Go Hollywood

To the Journey: Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager

And They're Off

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption
One Night Only