LeVar Burton
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.
127 acting credits · 17 directing credits
Acting · 127
Family Guy
1999
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Daily Show
1996
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
INVINCIBLE
2021
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Star Trek: Voyager
1995
Murder, She Wrote
1984
The Big Bang Theory
2007
The Love Boat
1977
Adventure Time
2010
Futurama
1999
The View
1997
Batman: The Animated Series
1992
Jeopardy!
1984
Community
2009
Hell's Kitchen
2005
The Legend of Vox Machina
2022
Star Trek: Picard
2020
Gargoyles
1994
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
Becker
1998
Tamron Hall
2019
Perception
2012
Finding Your Roots
2012
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
1990
Leverage: Redemption
2021
Reading Rainbow
1983
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
2007
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995
Roots
1977
Explained
2018
Boomtown
2002
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
2017
The Ready Room
2019
The Eric Andre Show
2012
Transformers: Rescue Bots
2012
Carol & the End of the World
2023
Pinky and the Brain
1995
PBS News Weekend
2013
100 Years of Warner Bros.
2023
Roots
2016
Christy
1994
Strip Law
2026
Shatner's Raw Nerve
2008
Weird City
2019
The Shuttlepod Show
2022
The Problem with Jon Stewart
2021
Houston Knights
1987
Deadly Games
1995
Star Trek: Nemesis
2002
Ali
2001
The Captain and Tennille
1976
Star Trek: First Contact
1996
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
1980
Star Trek: Insurrection
1998
Star Trek: Generations
1994
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
2009
Tom Swift
2022
Scripps National Spelling Bee
—
MADtv
1995
One Night Only
2026
Lennon or McCartney
2014
Trivial Pursuit
2024
Beyond the Spotlight
2020
The Hunter
1980
Weather Hunters
2025
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
1977
The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next
1988
To the Journey: Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager
2024
Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event
2023
Trekkies
1997
Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds
2013
Our Friend, Martin
1999
Blizzard
2003
Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond
1996
Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation
1994
Rise of the Zombies
2012
The Muppets Go Hollywood
1979
Mickey's 50
1978
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes
1993
The Midnight Hour
1985
Booker
1984
Liberty
1986
Roots: The Gift
1988
The Jensen Project
2010
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
1991
Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things...
2014
Definition Please
2020
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
1977
And the Children Shall Lead
1985
The Supernaturals
1986
Butterfly in the Sky
2024
US Against the World
1977
Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation
2012
Dummy
1979
I Love Liberty
1982
Taken in Broad Daylight
2009
The Jesse Owens Story
1984
A Star Is Drawn: Rob Simone's Look Inside Comic-Con
2014
Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool
2005
Central Park
1990
Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland
1993
Yesterday's Target
1996
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
1978
Reach for Me
2008
Battered
1978
Parallel Lives
1994
40 Years of Star Trek
2006
Brentwood
2018
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification
2013
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command
2014
Emergency Room
1983
And They're Off
2011
A Special Friendship
1987
Almos' a Man
1976
Stardate Revisited - The Origin of Star Trek: The Next Generation
2012
Transformers: Rescue Bots - Rescue Family
2017
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption
2013
Remembering Roots
2002
Grambling's White Tiger
1981
School of the Future
2016
Secrets of Sacred Architecture
2022
Star Trek: Federation Science
1992
The Acorn People
1981
Roots: The Complete Miniseries
1977
Directing · 17
Charmed
1998
JAG
1995
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Star Trek: Voyager
1995
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993
Scorpion
2014
Las Vegas
2003
Star Trek: Enterprise
2001
NCIS: New Orleans
2014
Perception
2012
NCIS: Hawaiʻi
2021
Soul Food
2000
Miracle's Boys
2005
Blizzard
2003
Smart House
1999
Reach for Me
2008
The Tiger Woods Story
1998