LeVar Burton was born February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, Germany, and grew up in Sacramento, California. In accounts of his childhood, he has emphasized the importance his mother placed on education. Books became part of the family environment he later connected to his public work. Sacramento recognized that local connection in 2019 by renaming a Meadowview neighborhood park in his honor.
His major screen breakthrough came in 1977, playing the young Kunta Kinte in Roots. The performance earned an Emmy nomination, and the miniseries itself received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. A decade later, he appeared as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. These roles placed him in very different dramatic worlds: a story about enslavement and a science-fiction vision of the future.
Between those projects, Burton became the host of Reading Rainbow, which began broadcasting in July 1983. The program linked illustrated books with visits to places related to their subjects and included book reviews by children. Burton also served as an executive producer, and as host and producer he collected 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for the program. When Star Trek brought another major commitment, the two production teams helped him continue working on both programs.
His approach to young audiences was personal and deliberate. In a 2023 Los Angeles Press Club profile, he discussed treating children with respect rather than talking down to them. In the same interview, he explicitly described himself as a Black man and reflected on the historical significance of becoming associated with literacy. The account also documents his podcast LeVar Burton Reads, launched in 2017, and his work directing for television.
Burton continued public literacy advocacy, serving as honorary chair of Banned Books Week in 2023. In 2022, he received a lifetime achievement honor at the first Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, and on October 21, 2024, he received the 2023 National Humanities Medal at a White House ceremony.
