LeVar Burton Net Worth: This was my first time auditioning for a professional acting role. LeVar was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his performance.
Burton is most known for his appearances on the PBS show “Reading Rainbow.”
Beginning in 1983, he hosted and executive produced the show.
The show aired for 23 seasons and was nominated for over 2000 awards, including 26 Emmys.
Burton is also recognized for his portrayal of Geordi La Forge in the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
He's directed Star Trek, Charmed, JAG, Las Vegas, and other shows. He is also a member of the AIDS Research Alliance's board of directors.
LeVar Burton's Early Life
In 1957, LeVar Burton was born in Landstuhl, West Germany, as Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr.
His father worked as a photographer for the US Army Signal Corps in Landstuhl, and his mother worked as a social worker and educator.
Burton was reared by his mother in Sacramento, California, alongside his two sisters, and was raised Roman Catholic.
He studied at St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Galt as a teenager, intending to become a priest.
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He altered his career objectives to acting when he was 17 owing to his distrust of the Catholic Church.
He went on to the University of Southern California after that.
LeVar Burton's Personal Life
Burton married Stephanie Cozart, a makeup artist, in 1992, and the couple has two daughters, Eian and Michaela.
Burton joined the board of directors of the AIDS Research Alliance in 2012.
He was one of five first recipients of the Sacramento Walk of Stars in 2016.
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Three years later, a park in the city near Burton's childhood home was named after him.
LeVar Burton's Directing Career
Burton directed the television features “The Tiger Woods Story” and “Smart House” in addition to various episodes of “Star Trek.”
In 2003, he directed his first feature film, “Blizzard,” a Christmas family film in which he also starred.
He went on to helm episodes of “JAG,” “Miracle's Boys,” “Las Vegas,” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” among other shows.
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He directed “Reach for Me,” which was nominated for an AARP Movies for Grownups award in 2008.
Early Screen Career
Burton made his breakout role in the ABC miniseries “Roots;” which was based on the eponymous Alex Haley novel; after making his feature picture acting debut in 1976's “Almos' a Man.”
In 1977, the actor was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as the youthful Kunta Kinte.
In the same year; he starred alongside Diane Keaton; Richard Gere, and Tuesday Weld in the criminal drama “Looking for Mr. Goodbar.”
Burton had two important leading roles in made-for-television biographical films at the close of the decade.
He played Ron LeFlore; a troubled Detroit child who rose from incarceration to play baseball for the Detroit Tigers in 1978's “One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story.”
Then, in 1979, Burton played Donald Lang, a deaf black man from Chicago convicted of murdering a pair of prostitutes in the film “Dummy.”
The film, which also included Paul Sorvino as Lang's lawyer, won a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie.
Burton co-starred in the television miniseries “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” in the early 1980s, alongside Powers Boothe, Ned Beatty, and James Earl Jones, concerning the real-life Peoples Temple and the mass suicide of its members.
Burton also appeared on “Trapper John; M.D.” and “Fantasy Island” episodes.
He starred in the murder thriller “The Hunter” in 1980, and in 1981, he appeared in the television drama “Grambling's White Tiger,” which was based on the true story of quarterback Jim Gregory.
Levar Burton Net Worth
LeVar Burton has a net worth of $6 million as an actor, author, director, producer, and presenter in the United States.
Burton made his acting debut in 1977 on the popular ABC drama series “Roots,” when he played Kunta Kinte.
LeVar Burton's Says To Jeopardy! : “The Fix Was Always In”
LeVar Burton has been making headlines recently as he prepares to apply his decades of expertise as the face of American reading to a new endeavor: hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Understandably, Burton's new job as MC for America's most dramatic intellectual bloodsport has raised suspicions regarding the other mental competition position he was said to be considering.
And when it comes to his bid to become the host of Jeopardy!, Burton has made no apologies, claiming that he was never given a fair opportunity and that “the fix was in” when it came to attempts to take his place on the show.
This is according to several recent interactions the Roots and Star Trek actor has had, including one with The Ringer, which covered former Jeopardy! executive producer/host Mike Richards extensively.
Burton added that he had to phone the producer, who was in charge of finding Jeopardy's next host, twice about gaining a possible guest-hosting gig/trial for the permanent job because Richards reportedly “didn't believe” Burton was truly serious about the job.
(This despite Burton's interest in the post dating back to 2013; like the hundreds of thousands of individuals who signed a petition in support of him winning the job, he remarked that his unique position in the American cultural scene made him a natural match for the position.)
Levar Burton Net Worth: Frequently Asked Questions
As Levar Burton's Marriage Still Going Strong?
Burton and Stephanie Cozart have been married since October 3, 1992.
Stephanie was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on November 10, 1953.
She is a professional makeup artist who has worked on films such as “White Men Can't Jump,” “The Talk,” and “In Living Color.”
Is LeVar Burton German?
Burton was born in the German city of Landstuhl.
LeVar Burton was born at the US Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in West Germany as a result of his father's military service.
What Is Mica Burton Up to These Days?
Burton has hosted several Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons events, including D&D Live 2019: The Descent and D&D Live 2021.
Burton joined Critical Role Productions' Critter Hug online series as a cohost in 2020.