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.

Filmography

• 2026One Night Only — Rick
• Strip Law — (voice)
• Weather Hunters — Flexspecs (voice), Great Grandpa Wallace (voice)
• Carol & the End of the World — (voice)
• 2023Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event — Commodore Geordi La Forge
• 2023The Right to Read — Executive Producer
• 2022Secrets of Sacred Architecture — Narrator (voice)
• The Legend of Vox Machina — Undead Thordak (voice)
• Tom Swift — Barclay (voice)
• INVINCIBLE — Suit AI (voice)
• Leverage: Redemption — Mr. Blanche
• NCIS: Hawaiʻi — Director
• Beyond the Spotlight
• 2020Definition Please — LeVar Burton
• Star Trek: Picard — Commodore Geordi La Forge
• Weird City — Dr. Negari
• 2018Brentwood — LeVar Burton
• Explained — Narrator (voice)
• OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes — Kwame
• 2017Transformers: Rescue Bots - Rescue Family
• Roots — Ephraim, Co-Executive Producer
• 2016School of the Future
• NCIS: New Orleans — Director
• Scorpion — Director
• 2014Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things... — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• 2014Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• 2013Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• 2013Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge (archive footage)
• 2013Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Finding Your Roots
• Perception — Paul Haley, Director
• 2012Rise of the Zombies — Dr. Dan Halpern
• Transformers: Rescue Bots — Doc Green (voice)
• Adventure Time — Bubble (voice)
• 2010The Jensen Project — Kendrick
• Community — LeVar Burton
• 2009Superman/Batman: Public Enemies — Black Lightning (voice)
• 2009Taken in Broad Daylight — Mike Timbrook
• 2008Reach for Me — Nathanial, Director
• The Big Bang Theory — LeVar Burton
• Miracle's Boys — Director
• 2003Blizzard — Night Watchman Elf (uncredited), Director
• Las Vegas — Director
• Boomtown — Marvin Lloyd
• 2002Star Trek: Nemesis — Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
• 2001Ali — Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Star Trek: Enterprise — Director
• Soul Food — Director
• Family Guy — Vern (voice), LeVar Burton (voice)
• Futurama — Unlicensed Hologram of LeVar Burton (voice)
• 1999Our Friend, Martin — Martin at Age 26 (voice)
• 1999Smart House — Director
• Becker — Mr. Haller
• Charmed — Director
• 1998Star Trek: Insurrection — Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
• 1998The Tiger Woods Story — Director
• 1996Star Trek: First Contact — Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
• 1996Yesterday's Target — Winstrom
• Deadly Games — Mr. Metcalf
• Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child — The Monk (voice)
• JAG — Director
• Pinky and the Brain — Murray (voice)
• Star Trek: Voyager — Captain Geordi La Forge, Director
• Christy — Daniel Scott
• Gargoyles — Anansi/Poacher 2 (voice)
• 1994Parallel Lives — Dr. Franklin Carter
• 1994Star Trek: Generations — Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
• 1993Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland — Fire Chief J. Allan Mather
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Director
• 1993Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes — Geordi La Forge
• Batman: The Animated Series — Hayden Sloane (voice)
• 1992Star Trek: Federation Science
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers — Kwame (voice)
• 1988Roots: The Gift — Kunta Kinte
• 1987A Special Friendship — Ben Sumner
• Houston Knights — Jason Evans
• Star Trek: The Next Generation — Geordi La Forge, Director
• 1986Liberty — Robert Johnson
• 1986The Supernaturals — Pvt. Michael Osgood
• 1985And the Children Shall Lead — Glenn Scott
• 1985The Midnight Hour — Vinnie Davis
• 1984Booker — Davis
• Murder, She Wrote — Reporter Dave Robinson
• 1984The Jesse Owens Story — Professor Preston
• 1983Emergency Room — Ray Walden
• Reading Rainbow — Self - Host, Executive Producer
• 1981Grambling's White Tiger — Charles 'Tank' Smith
• 1981The Acorn People — Rodney
• Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones — Richard Jefferson
• 1980The Hunter — Tommy Price
• 1979Dummy — Donald Lang
• Trapper John, M.D.
• 1978Battered — Andrew Sinclair
• 1978One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story — Ron LeFlore
• 1977Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid — Billy Peoples
• 1977Looking for Mr. Goodbar — Cap Jackson
• Roots — Kunta Kinte
• Roots: The Complete Miniseries — Kunta Kinte
• The Love Boat — Darnell Hall
• 1976Almos' a Man — Dave

Appearances as themselves (41)

• 2024Butterfly in the Sky — Self
• 2024To the Journey: Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager — Self
• Trivial Pursuit — Self - Host
• 100 Years of Warner Bros. — Self
• The Shuttlepod Show — Self
• The Problem with Jon Stewart — Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• The Ready Room — Self
• The Tamron Hall Show — Self - Guest
• 2014A Star Is Drawn: Rob Simone's Look Inside Comic-Con — Self
• 2014Lennon or McCartney — Self
• PBS News Weekend — Himself (voice)
• 2012Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation — Self
• 2012Stardate Revisited - The Origin of Star Trek: The Next Generation — Self
• The Eric Andre Show — Self
• 2011And They're Off — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• Shatner's Raw Nerve — Self
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! — Self
• 200640 Years of Star Trek — Self
• Hell's Kitchen — Self - Restaurant Patron
• 2005Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool — Self
• 2002Remembering Roots — Self
• The View — Self - Guest
• 1997Trekkies — Self
• 1996Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond — Self
• The Daily Show — Self
• MADtv — Self
• 1994Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation — Self
• 1991Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special — Self
• 1990Central Park — Self
• 1988The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next — Self
• Jeopardy! — Self - Host
• 1982I Love Liberty — Self
• 1979The Muppets Go Hollywood — Self (uncredited)
• 1978Mickey's 50 — Self
• 1977US Against the World — Self
• The Captain and Tennille — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• Make-Up Man: The Michael Westmore Documentary — Self
• Scripps National Spelling Bee — Self - Host