Laurence Fishburne

Biography

Early life

Fishburne was born in Augusta, Georgia to parents Laurence Fishburne II, who worked in the Bronx, and Hattie, a junior high school math teacher. His parents divorced during his childhood and his mother moved him to Brooklyn where he was raised. Fishburne's father saw him once a month.

Career

1970s

Fishburne started acting at the age of 12, getting his big break portraying Joshua Hall on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live in 1973. He was originally cast in the hit TV show Good Times, but the role eventually went to Ralph Carter. However, 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. Fishburne later earned a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

1980s

Laurence spent much of the ' 80s in and out of television and periodically on stage. Fishburne had a recurring role as "Cowboy Curtis" alongside Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in the CBS children's television show, Pee-Wee's Playhouse. He also appeared in a Season 10 M*A*S*H episode, "The Tooth Shall Set You Free", as Corporal Dorsey. Some of his stage work during the ' 80s included Short Eyes (1984) and Loose Ends (1987). Both were produced at Second Stage Theatre.

1990s

Although he was always able to find steady work, it was his 1991 role in Boyz N The Hood that gained him lasting recognition as an outstanding actor. The next year, Fishburne won a Tony Award for his stage performance in August Wilson's Two Trains Running, which was followed by an Oscar nomination one year later for his portrayal of Ike Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It? Also in 1992, he received an Emmy Award for an episode of the short-lived TV series Tribeca. Nowadays Fishburne is best known for his role as Morpheus, the hacker-mentor of Neo (Keanu Reeves) in the blockbuster science fiction 1999 movie The Matrix.

2000s

He continued his role as Morpheus in the Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions 2003. He has recently appeared on screen alongside Tom Cruise as his IMF superior in Mission: Impossible III, Theodore Brassell, and on stage with Angela Bassett in a Pasadena production of August Wilson's masterpiece "Fences"

Personal life

Fishburne married actress Hajna O. Moss in 1985 and had two children with her, a son named Langston (born 1987) and a daughter named Montana (born 1991); however, the couple divorced in the 1990s, and on September 20, 2002, Fishburne married actress Gina Torres. Fishburne and Torres are expecting their first child together in summer 2007. Fishburne is a notable graduate of Lincoln Square Academy in New York which closed in the 1980s.

Fishburne lives in California.

Filmography

Actor

Bobby (2006)

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

True Crime: New York City (Video Game, 2005)

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Mystic River (2003)

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Biker Boyz (2003)

Deep Cover / Chill Factor (2001)

Osmosis Jones (2001)

Once in the Life (2000)

The Matrix (1999)

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (1998)

Event Horizon (1997)

Hoodlum (1997)

Miss Evers' Boys (1997)

Fled (1996)

The Tuskegee Airmen (1996)

Bad Company (1995)

Just Cause (1995)

Othello (1995)

Alien Warrior (1994)

Higher Learning (1994)

Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

What's Love Got to Do with It? (1993)

Deep Cover (1992)

Boyz N the Hood (1991)

Class Action (1991)

Decoration Day (1990)

King of New York (1990) (as Larry Fishburne)

Cadence (1990) (as Larry Fishburne)

Red Heat (1988) (as Larry Fishburne)

Gardens of Stone (1987)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Pee-wee's Playhouse - Vols. 1-4 (1987)

Pee-wee's Playhouse - Vols. 5-8 (1987)

School Daze (1987)

Quicksilver (1986)

The Color Purple (1985)

The Cotton Club (1984)

For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983)

Rumble Fish (1983)

Death Wish II (1981) (as Laurence Fishburne III)

Willie & Phil (1980)

Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in Fences

Apocalypse Now (1979) (as Larry Fishburne)

Fast Break (1979)

Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)

One Life to Live (TV) (1973-1976)

Producer

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Once in the Life (2000)

Hoodlum (1997)

Screenwriter

Once in the Life (2000)

Trivia

He can briefly be seen in the audience in clips of Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Press Correspondents' Dinner.

He once expressed to 50 Cent his dislike for late rap icon Tupac Shakur.

Fishburne played a 17-year-old Navy sailor nicknamed 'Mr. Clean' in Apocalypse Now. When production began in March 1976 he was only 14-years-old, and apparently lied about his age to get the part.

Played "Michael Caine in Space" on an episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Laurence has worked with actress Angela Bassett in a total of 4 projects to date (2006). 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.

In the animated television sitcom American Dad, Francine is mistaken for Laurence Fishburne and is given free drinks in the episode "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man."

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