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Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III is an American
actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is best known for his roles as Morpheus
in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, 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. He 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. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured
Actor in a Play for his performance in Two Trains Running , and an Emmy Award for Drama
Series Guest Actor for his performance in TriBeCa .
From 2008 to 2011, he starred as Dr. Raymond Langston on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation. Fishburne has starred in several cult classics, including Deep Cover,
and King of New York. 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 *** (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. In an 1995 American drama film, starring an ensemble
cast, Laurence Fishburne won an Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion
Picture" for his performance in Higher Learning as West Indian Professor Maurice Phipps. 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.
Fishburne provided the voice of Thrax in Osmosis Jones in 2001. He reprised his role as Morpheus
in the Matrix sequels The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003. He briefly
featured as a stretcher-bearer in one version of the video for The Spooks' song "Things
I've Seen" (2000) and appeared with Tom Cruise as Theodore Brassell, IMF superior of Cruise's
character in Mission: Impossible III. Fishburne has worked with actress Angela Bassett on
four projects. He said that "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."
In 2006, they appeared onstage in a Pasadena Playhouse production of August Wilson's Fences.
He played terrorist leader, Ahmat who was revealed to be CIA in the 2006 film Five Fingers.
He provided the voice of the narrator in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie,
which was released in 2007. The same year, he provided the voice of the Silver Surfer
in 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 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 achievements as an actor and entertainer and for his humanitarian
pursuits. Fishburne is a UNICEF ambassador. The mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kenneth
Reeves, awarded him the key to the city and declared February 24 "Laurence Fishburne"
day in the city. In April 2008, Fishburne returned to the stage
in the Broadway production of Thurgood, a new play by George Stevens, Jr. Thurgood opened
at the Booth Theatre on April 30, 2008. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person
Show for his performance. On February 24, 2011, HBO screened a filmed version of the
play performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. On February 16, 2011,
the White House hosted a screening of the film as part of its celebrations of Black
History Month. On August 18, 2008, it was reported that Laurence
Fishburne would join the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after William Petersen
(aka Gil Grissom) left the series. John Malkovich was also considered for the role prior to
the announcement. Fishburne joined the show on the ninth episode of the 9th season as
a college professor and former pathologist whose area of expertise involves some criminals'
predisposition to commit acts of violence. The character was introduced as a consultant
on a case ("19 Down"), who winds up joining the CSI team ("One to Go"). In May 2009, Fishburne
performed on-stage in the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Fishburne starred in Predators in 2010 and Contagion in 2011. On June 7, 2011, Fishburne
announced that he was leaving CSI to return to movies and theatre, opting not to renew
his contract and would not appear in Season 12. Fishburne played Perry White in the Zack
Snyder-directed Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013). In 2013, Fishburne joined the cast
of Hannibal, as Dr. Jack Crawford, head of Behavioral Sciences at the FBI. Fishburne
is confirmed to reprise his role as White in the sequel to Man of Steel. In 2014, Fishburne
reprised his role as Morpheus in a series of Kia K900 commercials.
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 while filming The Matrix Reloaded. He and Torres 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 the novel The Alchemist.
Awards and nominations Theatre