LeVar Burton is an actor, director, presenter on the long-running children's television series Reading Rainbow, and the father of Mica Burton, an actor and freelance host who has appeared in multiple Critical Role productions. He took over the role of Undead Thordak in The Legend of Vox Machina from Lance Reddick (who died in March 2023) providing the bass layer voice to Cree Summer's Raishan voice. LeVar took the role at the request of Lance's wife Stephanie Reddick.[2]
Biography[]
LeVar was born in Landstuhl, West Germany and raised in Sacramento, California. As a teen, he entered a Roman Catholic seminary with the intention of becoming a priest. However, he began questioning the Catholic faith and left the seminary to attend the University of Southern California on a full scholarship. While there, when he was 19 years old, he won his breakthrough role as Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television miniseries Roots, for which he garnered an Emmy Award nomination. He went on to long-running stints as the host and executive producer of the PBS children's series Reading Rainbow, and as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation.[3][1] More recently, he has been the host of the podcast LeVar Burton Reads.
In 1992, LeVar married Stephanie Cozart, a professional make-up artist, and they have two children: son Eian Burton Smith and daughter Michaela "Mica" Jean Burton.[1]
In 2023, LeVar received the National Humanities Medal for his 26 years of work on Reading Rainbow.[4]
Critical Role Productions[]
- The Legend of Vox Machina, Season Three
- "Deadly Echoes (LoVM)" (LVM3x11), "Souls in Darkness" (LVM3x12) - Undead Thordak
Other works[]
LeVar is perhaps best known for portraying Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television miniseries Roots, and his multiple years as the host of the PBS children's television series Reading Rainbow. For a complete list of his credits, see his IMDb PAGE.
External Links[]
LeVar Burton on IMDb- LeVar Burton on Wikipedia
- LeVar on Linktr.ee
- @thelevarburton on TikTok
- LeVar Burton Reads
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 LeVar Burton on Wikipedia
- ↑ See The Legend of Vox Machina, Season Finale Roundtable - Season 3, Episodes 7-12 at 1:13:44 on the Critical Role YouTube channel.
- ↑ See LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars" on npr.org, July 18, 2024.
- ↑ See LeVar Burton on the National Endowment for the Humanities website.
Art:
- ↑ Photograph of LeVar Burton in 2023, by Super Festivals (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.