Laurence Fishburne

Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, Mr. Clean in Apocalypse Now, Cowboy Curtis on the television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, Ike Turner in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It and as Furious Styles in Boyz n the Hood.

Fishburne became the first African-American to portray Othello in a motion picture by a major studio when he appeared in Oliver Parker's 1995 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play. For his portrayal of Ike Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a leading role. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Two Trains Running (1992), and an Emmy Award for Drama Series Guest Actor for his performance in TriBeCa (1993).

Fishburne has starred in several cult classics, including Deep Cover, and King of New York. From 2008 to 2011, he starred as Dr. Raymond Langston on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2013, he portrayed Perry White in the Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot Man of Steel and stars as Special Agent Jack Crawford on the NBC thriller series Hannibal.

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. After his parents divorced during his childhood, his mother moved with him to Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised. Fishburne's father saw him once a month. Fishburne is a graduate of Lincoln Square Academy in New York, which closed in the 1980s.

Career

In 1973, Fishburne had his first job 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 went to Ralph Carter. His 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. He later earned a supporting role in Apocalypse Now, in which he played Tyrone Miller, a cocky 17-year-old Gunner's Mate 3rd Class from the Bronx, nicknamed Mr. Clean. When production began in March 1976, he was just 14 years old, having lied about his age to get the part. Filming took so long that he was actually 17 years old upon its completion.

Fishburne spent much of the 1980s in and out of television and periodically on stage. In the early 1980s, he worked as a bouncer at punk rock clubs. He had a minor role in the critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg film The Color Purple. He also had a role in the 1984 movie The Cotton Club. Fishburne had a recurring role as Cowboy Curtis on Paul Reubens' CBS children's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse (credited as Larry Fishburne). He also appeared in the M*A*S*H episode, "The Tooth Shall Set You Free", as Corporal Dorsey (billed as Larry Fishburne in the credits). In Spenser: For Hire, he was a guest star for the 2nd season episode "Personal Demons". He appeared as a thug named Cutter in Death Wish 2 (1982). He also appeared alongside Kevin Bacon in Quicksilver. His stage work during the 1980s included Short Eyes (1984), and Loose Ends (1987), both produced at Second Stage Theatre in New York City. Also in 1987 he played a part in the third Nightmare On Elm Street film as a hospital orderly. Fishburne played as Lt. Charlie Stobbs (under Larry Fishburne) in Red Heat (1988) beside Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi. Fishburne also starred as "Dap" in Spike Lee's School Daze (1988). Fishburne's character was the depiction of an African American, culturally inclined college student at an HBCU (Historically Black College/University).

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. He also starred in Deep Cover alongside Jeff Goldblum. In 1993, he received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Ike Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It. Fishburne won an Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture" for his performance as West Indian Professor Maurice Phipps in the 1995 American drama ensemble film, Higher Learning. He played the title role in Othello, the second African-American actor, after Paul Robeson, to perform the role. In 1997, Fishburne starred in the science fiction horror Event Horizon alongside Sam Neill. 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.

Personal life

Fishburne married actress Hajna O. Moss in 1985, in New York. They have two children together: a son, Langston, born in 1987, and a daughter, Montana Fishburne, born in 1991. Hajna and Laurence divorced in the 1990s.

Fishburne met actress Gina Torres and they were engaged in February 2001 and married on September 22, 2002, at The Cloisters museum in New York City. On January 8, 2007, Fishburne's spokesman Alan Nierob announced the couple were expecting their first child together. A daughter, Delilah, was born to the couple in June 2007.

Fishburne lives in Hollywood, and also maintains a residence in New York City, in the Castle Village Co-Op in the Hudson Heights section of Washington Heights. He is a big fan of Paulo Coelho and plans to produce a movie based on his novel The Alchemist.

[ Wikipedia ]