Laurence Fishburne Biography
Summary
"Laurence John Fishburne III" (born July 30 1961) is an American Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor of screen and stage, as well as playwright, director, and producer.
Biography
Early life
Fishburne was born in Augusta, Georgia, the son of Hattie Bell (née Crawford), a junior high school mathematics and science teacher, and Laurence John Fishburne, Jr., a juvenile corrections officer. His parents divorced during his childhood and his mother moved with him to Brooklyn, New York where he was raised. Fishburne's father saw him once a month. He is a graduate of Lincoln Square Academy in New York which closed in the 1980s.
Career
Fishburne started acting at age twelve getting his big break in 1973 portraying Joshua Hall on the ABC soap opera, "One Life to Live". He was initially cast in the hit television series "Good Times", but the role was eventually given to Ralph Carter. Fishburne's most memorable childhood role was in "Cornbread, Earl and Me" in which he played a young boy who witnessed the police shooting of a popular high school basketball star. Fishburne later earned a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now", in which he played a 17-year-old sailor nicknamed 'Mr. Clean'. When production began in March 1976 he was just fourteen, apparently lying about his age to get the part. Filming took so long that he was already seventeen upon its completion.
Fishburne spent much of the 1980s in and out of television and periodically on stage. Fishburne had a recurring role as Cowboy Curtis with Paul Reubens' character, Pee Wee Herman in the CBS children's television show, "Pee-Wee's Playhouse". He also appeared in the "M*A*S*H" episode, 'The Tooth Shall Set You Free', as Corporal Dorsey. His stage work during the 1980s included "Short Eyes" in 1984 , and "Loose Ends" in 1987 . Both were produced at Second Stage Theatre in New York City.
In 1990 he played Jimmy Jump in the controversial "King of New York", and in 1991, Fishburne starred in "Boyz N The Hood". The following year, in 1992, he won a Tony Award for his stage performance in the August Wilson play, "Two Trains Running" and an Emmy Award for his performance in the opening episode, 'The Box,' of the short-lived anthology series television drama "TriBeCa". In 1993, he received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Ike Turner in "What's Love Got to Do With It?". Today, Fishburne is perhaps best known for his role as Morpheus, the hacker-mentor of Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, in the 1999 blockbuster science fiction film, "The Matrix". He briefly appears as a stretcher-bearer in one version of the video for The Spooks' song 'Things I've Seen' (2000).
Fishburne reprised his role as Morpheus in the Matrix sequels, "The Matrix Reloaded", and "The Matrix Revolutions" in 2003. He has appeared with Tom Cruise as Theodore Brassell, IMF superior of Cruise's character in "Mission: Impossible III". In 2006 he appeared on stage with Angela Bassett in a Pasadena production of the August Wilson masterpiece, "Fences". Most recently, he provided the voice of the narrator in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (TMNT) movie, released March 23rd, 2007. The same year, he provided the voice of the Silver Surfer in 2007 film "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer".
Fishburne has worked with actress Angela Bassett on four projects. He says 'An electrifying thing happens when the two of us work together. I haven't experienced it with anyone else. A freedom happens when we work together.' They both plan to work with each other in the future.
On February 24, 2007, Fishburne was honored with the Harvard Foundation's Artist of the Year award at the annual show Cultural Rhythms. He received this honor for his prowess as an actor and entertainer and for his humanitarian pursuits. Fishburne is a UNICEF ambassador. The mayor of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mayor Kenneth Reeves awarded him the key to the city and declared the twenty-fourth of February, 'Lawrence Fishburne? day in the city of Cambridge.
Personal life
Fishburne was married to actress Hajna Moss in 1985. They have two children together: a son, Langston, born in 1987, and a daughter, Montana, born in 1991. Fishburne's current wife is actress Gina Torres, whom he wedded on September 20 2002. They have a daughter, Ashley, born June 2007
Fishburne is a big fan of Paulo Coelho and plans to produce a movie based on the novel "The Alchemist".
Fishburne is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States.
Stage
"Eden" (1976)
"Short Eyes" (1985)
"Urban Blight" (1988)
"Loose Ends" (1988)
"Two Trains Running" (1992)
"Riff Raff (play)" (1995)
"The Lion in Winter" (1999)
"Fences (play)" (2006)
Filmography
Actor
"One Life to Live" (1973-1976)
"Cornbread, Earl and Me" (1975)
"Fast Break" (1979)
"Apocalypse Now" (1979)
"Willie & Phil" (1980)
"Death Wish II" (1982)
"Rumble Fish" (1983)
"For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983)
"The Cotton Club" (1984)
"The Color Purple" (1985)
"Quicksilver" (1986)
"Band of the Hand" (1986)
"Pee-wee's Playhouse - Vols. 1-8" (1987)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987)
"Gardens of Stone" (1987)
"Cherry 2000" (1987)
"Red Heat" (1988)
"School Daze" (1988)
"Cadence" (1990)
"King of New York" (1990)
"Decoration Day" (1990)
"Class Action" (1991)
"Boyz N the Hood" (1991)
"Deep Cover" (1992)
"What's Love Got to Do with It?" (1993)
"Searching for Bobby Fischer" (1993)
"Higher Learning" (1994)
"Alien Warrior" (1994)
"Othello" (1995)
"Just Cause" (1995)
"Bad Company" (1995)
"The Tuskegee Airmen" (1996)
"Fled" (1996)
"Miss Evers' Boys" (1997)
"Hoodlum" (1997)
"Event Horizon" (1997)
"Always Outnumbered" (1998)
"The Matrix" (1999)
"Once in the Life" (2000)
"Michael Jordan to the Max" (2000)
"Osmosis Jones" (2001)
"Deep Cover / Chill Factor" (2001)
"Biker Boyz" (2003)
"The Matrix Reloaded" (2003)
"Mystic River" (2003)
"The Matrix Revolutions" (2003)
"Assault on Precinct 13" (2005)
"True Crime: New York City" (Video Game, 2005)
"Five Fingers" (2006)
"Akeelah and the Bee" (2006)
"Mission: Impossible III" (2006)
"Bobby" (2006)
"The Death and Life of Bobby Z" (2006)
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (2007)
"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" (2007)
"Black Water Transit" (2007)
"The Last Full Measure" (2007)
"21" (2008)
"Days of Wrath" (2008)
"Tortured" (2008)
"4Chosen" (2008)
"The Alchemist" (2009)
Producer
"TriBeCa" (1993)
"Hoodlum" (1997)
"Once in the Life" (2000)
"Akeelah and the Bee" (2006)
Screenwriter
"Once in the Life" (2000)
External links
(Laurence Fishburne) at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Laurence Fishburne.
