Overview (3)

Born February 16, 1957 in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Birth Name Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. Height 5' 7" (1.7 m)

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Trivia (27)

Attended and graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, California in 1974.



LeVar Burton's father, Levardis Robert Burton Senior, was a United States Army NCO from 1954 to 1976. Levardis Burton retired in the rank of Sergeant First Class, just as his son's acting career was beginning to gain notoriety.



As of November 2003, he holds the record for the most number of Star Trek episodes directed by a Star Trek actor. He has directed more than two-dozen episodes for every one of the four "modern era" Trek series.





His character Geordi La Forge on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987) was named after George La Forge, a Star Trek fan who died from muscular dystrophy.

Is a strong supporter of literacy in children.



At age 13, he entered a Catholic seminary to study for the priesthood.



In the original Next Generation script, Burton's character, Geordi LaForge, was going to be gay.



Attended and graduated from the University of Southern California School of Theatre.



Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 15, 1990.



His daughter, Mica Burton, will graduate from the University of Michigan in 2016.



His mother, Erma Gene (Christian), was a social worker, administrator and English teacher.





Three years before taking on the role of blind helmsman/engineer Geordi La Forge on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987), he played a blind passenger on Love Boat (1977), in the episode segment "Love Is Blind".



Is a regular guest as himself on The Big Bang Theory (2007).



Is a huge fan of the original Raumschiff Enterprise (1966) series.

Currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California.



Has a son Eian Burton (b. June 23, 1980 in Los Angeles) from a previous relationship.



As an avid supporter of children's development, Levar showcased his exceptional general knowledge in an episode of The Weakest Link - Star Trek Edition, aired on 26 November 2001 and won a record-breaking $167,500 for his charity, Junior Achievement Southern California.



LeVar Burton was the narrator for the audio recording of "The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963" by Christopher Paul Curtis.



Personal Quotes (25)

I get most of my news updates from electronic and social media.



If we marry educational technology with quality, enriching content, that's a circle of win.



There would be no Star Trek unless there were transporter malfunctions.



As long as we are engaged in storytelling that moves the culture forward, it doesn't matter what format it is.



Because storytelling, and visual storytelling, was put in the hands of everybody, and we have all now become storytellers.



I have always been a fan of 'Star Trek.' I love Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future.



We had to figure out how to produce books in a cost-effective way.



This wired generation is kind of cool.



It is no longer appropriate for me as an American to sit by and expect my government to get it done.



I fly my geek flag proudly. Absolutely.



Reading a hard copy book, and reading a book on an iPad are slightly different experiences. What they both have in common though is that you must engage your imagination in the process.



Yeah. I do. I think that we have to continue to expand the areas in which we want our kids to be literate. And social media's going to be a part of their lives. And why not? Why not give them a sense of what the rules of the road are?



And it's here and it's ready and we can really revolutionize the way we educate our children with tablet computers, and I'm committed to doing whatever I can to speaking to whomever I can to send this signal - to pound this message home. Now is the time.



We can't afford to sacrifice another generation of American children to bureaucratic politics. We've got to get it done. The future, the health, the life - our nation depends on it and it's just foolish to think or act otherwise.



It's definitely true that there are a lot of the devices we used on 'Star Trek,' that came out the imagination of the writers, and the creators that are actually in the world today.



I'm excited to see how current and future technologies revolutionize the way we learn.



The unvarnished truth is that we have spent the last decade funding the machinery of war, and our children have been sacrificed.



I've always been interested in gadgets and technology and I've always been a reader.



We want a book to be a book. We'll have all the interactive bells and whistles but our intent is to engage young people in reading, not to show them a movie.



I'm enormously proud of the fact that Star Trek has really not just sparked an interest, but encouraged, a few generations of people to go into the sciences.



It's not about division. It's not about politics. My concern is how do we come together?



We have an amazing advantage right now in that we have developed technology that is so sexy, so engaging for kids.



All literature is political.



I genuinely believe we have an opportunity to revolutionize how we educate our children.



It's sometimes really difficult to meet your heroes because you expect certain things of them. We sometimes expect for our heroes to not be human. We expect for them to be above the frailties of humanity and, of course, none of us are.



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