Star Trek The Next Generation
American Actor / Director
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. born February 16th 1957, professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author. He first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television mini series 'Roots'. As a result of his performance, he was nominated for the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Burton was later host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow starting in 1983 for PBS.
In 1986, Burton was approached to do the role of the then Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' television series. Burton also portrayed La Forge in the subsequent feature films based on Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning with Star Trek Generations in 1994 through 2002's Star Trek Nemesis. Burton directed the Season 2 episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled "Dreadnought." Burton also directed and appeared in the Season 5 episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled "Timeless" and directed several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
