Levar Burton is an award-winning director, actor, presenter, and education advocate. He is known for his roles in Roots as Kunte and Geordi LaForge in Star Trek. For 23 years, he hosted the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow. He has received 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award as host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow. Burton has accumulated a net worth of $6 million.
Career Life of Levar Burton
He is an actor and director who is popularly known for the 1994 Star Trek series Generations, Star Trek First Contact in 1996, and Star Trek Insurrection in 1998. For Star Trek the Next Generation, he was paid $100,000 per episode. He directed several episodes of Star Trek making him the only regular cast member who has directed more Star Trek episodes. Burton was selected as an alternate board director in 2000 and in 2005 he was elected to the board of directors for the Directors Guild of America fortunately, he was re-elected in 2007.
He has written and published books like Aftermath in 1997, A Kids Book About Imagination in 2021, and The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm in 2014. He voiced the character Kwame on the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers from 1990 to 1996. In the 2000s, he was featured in Muhammad Ali’s biopic Ali playing Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
He has directed episodes of Scorpion, Soul Food; The Series, JAG, Las Vegas, Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House, and Charmed. Burton received a Best of Fest award from the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival for his film Blizzard and a Genie Award nomination for the theme song on the film Center of My Heart.
He has always credited his friend and mentors Sir Patrick Stewart, Louis Gossett, and Cicely Tyson who have walked with him in his acting career. He has always shown his support for children’s development and this won him $ 167,500 for his charity Junior Achievement Southern California. In 2012, he joined the board of directors for the AIDS Research Alliance a medical research organization that is working towards finding a cure for AIDS. He is one of the five inaugural honorees of the Sacramento Walk of Stars. Due to his commitment to public service, he was awarded the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service.
The Personal Life of Levar Burton
Levar Burton was born on 16 February 1957 in Landstuhl, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. He attended St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Galt as he wanted to be a priest although he changed to acting at age 17 as he became skeptical about his faith. He is married to Stephanie Cozart Burton, a professional make-up artist, and have been together since October 1992. The couple has two children Eian Smith and daughter Michaela Jean Burton. Burton lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his wife and children. The couple sold their home in Sherman Oaks, California at $1.85 million after buying it for $1.47 million. After being chosen as one of the five inaugural honorees on the Sacramento Walk of Stars, a park close to where he grew up was named after him.
