Fishburne, Laurence, 1961-

Actor Laurence Fishburne was born on July 30, 1961 in Augusta, Georgia to Hattie Bell Fishburne and Laurence Fishburne, Sr. He attended Julia Richmond High School and later graduated from Lincoln Square Academy in 1979.

In 1971, at age ten, Fishburne appeared in his first playIn My Many Names and Daysat the New Federal Theater. In 1973, Fishburne made his television debut in the role of Joshua Hall on the ABC soap operaOne Life to Live. He made his film debut two years later inCornbread, Earl and Me; and, in that same year, he joined the Negro Ensemble Company. In 1976, at the age of fourteen, Fishburne was cast as Tyrone Miller in Frances Ford Coppola'sApocalypse Now, and was sent to the Philippines for location filming. Fishburne returned to the U.S. in 1979, and moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1983, he was featured inRumble Fishbased on the novel by S.E. Hinton, and later appeared inThe Cotton Clubas Bumpy Rhodes in 1984. The following year, he was cast as Swain in Steven Spielberg'sThe Color Purpleand also starred Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. Fishburne later portrayed Cowboy Curtis onPee-wee's Playhouseand also appeared in films such asQuicksilver,School Daze, andCadence.

In 1991, Fishburne starred in John Singleton'sBoyz n the Hoodas Furious Styles. Two years later, he starred opposite Angela Bassett, portraying Ike Turner inWhat's Love Got to Do with It, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, Fishburne made his theatrical directorial debut and starred inRiff Raff. He was then cast in the title role for the film adaptation ofOthello, and later portrayed Caleb Humphries inMiss Evers' Boys. In 1999, Fishburne starred inThe Matrixas Morpheus, co-starring Keanu Reaves. The following year, he made his screenwriting and directorial debut inOnce in the Life. He also appeared in several films including:Mystic River, Biker Boyz, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Akeelah and the Bee, Mission: Impossible III, Five Fingers, Bobby, and voiced the role of the Silver Surfer inFantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. In 2007, Fishburne portrayed Thurgood Marshall in the Broadway production ofThurgood; and, in 2008, he landed a recurring role as Raymond Langston onCSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Fishburne was later featured in films such as,Contagion, Predators, Have a Little Faith, Man of Steel, The Colony, andRide Along. In 2014, he was cast in the role of Pops in the television seriesBlack-ish; and, in 2017, he portrayed the Bowery King inJohn Wick: Chapter 2, reprising the role in 2019, inJohn Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Among several awards and nominations, Fishburne was nominated for an Academy Award, has won two Emmy Awards and was nominated seven times. He also received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in 1992.

Laurence Fishburne was interviewed byThe HistoryMakerson February 4, 2019.