Laurence Fishburne
Biography
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award and Tony Award winner known for his roles on stage and screen. He has frequently portrayed forceful, militant, and authoritative characters. Some of Fishburne's best-known roles are Morpheus in The Matrix series (1999–2003), Jason "Furious" Styles in the John Singleton drama film Boyz n the Hood (1991), Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller in Francis Ford Coppola's war film Apocalypse Now (1979), and "The Bowery King" in the John Wick film series (2017–present).
For his portrayal of Ike Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Fishburne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. 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 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in TriBeCa (1993). Fishburne became the first African American to portray Othello on film when he appeared in Oliver Parker's 1995 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play. He has also received five Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead nomination for his performance in Deep Cover (1992).
Other film credits of Fishburne include Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985), Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), Abel Ferrara's King of New York (1990), Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), and Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying (2017). He has also gained a wider audience with the blockbuster films Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). On television, he starred as Dr. Raymond Langston on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008–2011) and as Special Agent Jack Crawford in the NBC thriller series Hannibal (2013–2015), and had a recurring role as Earl "Pops" Johnson in the ABC sitcom Black-ish (2014–2022).
Acting (131 movies)
Apocalypse Now
1979
Rumble Fish
1983
Mystic River
2003
The Color Purple
1985
Mission: Impossible III
2006
TMNT
2007
The Matrix
1999
The Matrix Reloaded
2003
The Matrix Revolutions
2003
Boyz n the Hood
1991
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
1987
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
2007
The Death and Life of Bobby Z
2007
Bobby
2006
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991
Armored
2009
Deep Cover
1992
Quicksilver
1986
Bonnie
2022
Sneaks
2025
Hoodlum
1997
The Astronaut
2025
Five Fingers
2006
21
2008
The Tuskegee Airmen
1995
Event Horizon
1997
Assault on Precinct 13
2005
Biker Boyz
2003
Just Cause
1995
Osmosis Jones
2001
King of New York
1990
Always Outnumbered
1998
Red Heat
1988
Band of the Hand
1986
Tortured
2008
Predators
2010
Cadence
1990
Gardens of Stone
1987
Bad Company
1995
Akeelah and the Bee
2006
The Matrix Revisited
2001
Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993
School Daze
1988
Death Wish II
1982
Cornbread, Earl and Me
1975
What's Love Got to Do with It
1993
Cherry 2000
1987
Slingshot
2024
Once in the Life
2000
Higher Learning
1995
Othello
1995
Contagion
2011
Transformers One
2024
Death to 2021
2021
Fled
1996
Man of Steel
2013
The Amateur
2025
Thurgood
2011
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
2019
John Wick: Chapter 4
2023
Have a Little Faith
2011
Decoration Day
1990
The Soul of a Man
2003
Miss Evers' Boys
1997
black-ish: A Celebration – An ABC News Special
2022
A History of Sex
2003
King: Man of Peace in a Time of War
2007
Ride Along
2014
Khumba
2013
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
2016
The Matrix Recalibrated
2004
The Colony
2013
Megalopolis
2024
Rudderless
2014
The Signal
2014
Is That Black Enough for You?!?
2022
For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers
1983
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
1988
The Cotton Club
1984
Standoff
2016
Class Action
1991
Days of Wrath
2008
Spooge
2001
John Wick: Chapter 2
2017
Getting the Old Scent Again: Reimagining Red Dragon
2015
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015
Michael Jordan to the Max
2000
Passengers
2016
Sex and the Matrix
2000
Last Flag Flying
2017
The Snowy Day
2016
The Black List: Volume Two
2009
The Making of 'Event Horizon'
2006
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
2019
Welcome to Hollywood
2000
Ant-Man and the Wasp
2018
The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry
1991
A Man's Story
2011
The Matrix Revolutions Revisited
2004
Willie & Phil
1980
Directing (1 movie)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Miss Evers' Boys | 1997 | Executive Producer |
| Hoodlum | 1997 | Executive Producer |
| Always Outnumbered | 1998 | Executive Producer |
| Once in the Life | 2000 | Writer |
| Once in the Life | 2000 | Screenplay |
| Once in the Life | 2000 | Producer |
| Akeelah and the Bee | 2006 | Producer |
| Five Fingers | 2006 | Producer |
| The Cave of Adullam | 2022 | Producer |
| The Cave of Adullam | 2022 | Executive Producer |
| Sneaks | 2025 | Producer |
| The Astronaut | 2025 | Executive Producer |