Burton, LeVar (1957-…), is a German-born American actor and producer. He is known for his roles in the television miniseries Roots and the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Burton also hosted “Reading Rainbow,” a Public Broadcasting Service television show showcasing children’s literature, from 1983 to 2005. 
Levardis Robert Martin Burton, Jr., was born on Feb. 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, in western Germany. His father was a U.S. Army sergeant and photographer stationed in the country. His mother, Erma Gene Christian, a social worker and educator, separated from Burton and raised LeVar and his two sisters in Sacramento, California. At the age of 13, Burton entered St. Pius X Minor Seminary and Preparatory School in nearby Galt, studying to become a Catholic priest. He left the seminary in 1974 and later enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) School of the Dramatic Arts. Burton graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1979.
Burton’s first role was in Almos’ a Man, a movie based on the short story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” by the American author Richard Wright, in 1976. He won a starring role in the 1977 television miniseries Roots. In Roots, Burton played Kunta Kinte, an enslaved person forced to give up his African identity. Burton was cast in the motion picture Looking for Mr. Goodbar in 1977. He began hosting and producing “Reading Rainbow” in 1983. “Reading Rainbow” was created to keep children learning through the summer break from school. Burton later pushed for the show to address problems faced by children. Burton won 12 Emmy Awards for his work on “Reading Rainbow.”
In 1987, Burton began appearing on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the role of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, the blind chief engineer of the starship Enterprise. Burton also directed three episodes of the show. He continued working on the show until it ended in 1994. He played La Forge in feature film adaptations of “Star Trek” starting in 1994. He appeared in Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Burton wrote the science fiction novel Aftermath (1997).
In 2000, Burton won the Grammy award for best spoken word album for The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Burton created Skybrary, an educational application with digital books and videos of himself reading, in 2012. In 2017, Burton began recording the podcast “LeVar Burton Reads,” in which he reads short stories aloud.
