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| Birth Name(s) : Samuel Leroy Jackson |
Date of Birth: December 21, 1948 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
LaTanya Richardson |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Samuel L. Jackson Biography
| Samuel L. Jackson usually played bad guys and drug addicts before becomming an action hero, as the character Mitch Henessey, in Long Kiss Goodnight, The (1996) and in Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). From character player to leading man. His performance in Pulp Fiction (1994) gave him an Oscar nomination for his character Jules Winnfield. He was active in the black student movement. In the seventies he joined the Negro Ensemble Company (together with Morgan Freeman). In the eighties he became well known by three movies made by Spike Lee - Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). He received a Silver Berlin Bear for his part in the movie Jackie Brown (1997) as Ordell Robbi. |
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Additional Samuel L. Jackson Biography
Jackson is married to Latanya Richardson and has a daughter. He is a huge sports fan and an avid golfer. Jackson has won multiple awards for his film performances and has been portrayed in various forms of media including films, television series, and songs. Jackson has starred in over sixty films throughout his career and is currently working on six films that will debut between 2008 and 2009. Jackson's most recent role was in Resurrecting the Champ and his next upcoming film will be Jumper, to be released on February 15, 2008.
Jackson has noted that he chooses roles that are "exciting to watch" and have an "interesting character inside of a story", and that in his roles he wants to "do things done, things saw as a kid and wanted to do and now an opportunity to do".
Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. He grew up as an only child in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his mother, Elizabeth Jackson (a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a mental institution), and his maternal grandparents and extended family. His father lived away from the family in Kansas City, Missouri and later died from alcoholism. Jackson attended Riverside High (Now Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences), a segregated school where, between the third and twelfth grades, he played the French horn and trumpet in the school orchestra. He later attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he co-founded the "Just Us Theater". He graduated in 1972.
Quickly becoming a box office star, Jackson continued with three starring roles in 1997. In 187 he played a teacher, dedicated to educating students in a Los Angeles high school but with a terrible secret. He received an Independent Spirit award for Best First Feature alongside first-time writer/director Kasi Lemmons in the drama film Eve's Bayou, for which he also served as executive producer. He joined up again with director Quentin Tarantino and received a Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actor for his portrayal as an arms merchant in Jackie Brown. In 1998, he worked with other established actors such as Sharon Stone and Dustin Hoffman in Sphere and Kevin Spacey in The Negotiator, playing a hostage negotiator who resorts to taking hostages himself when he is falsely accused of murder and embezzlement. In 1999, Jackson starred in a shark horror film, Deep Blue Sea, and as Jedi Master Mace Windu in George Lucas's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In an interview, Jackson claimed that he did not have a chance to read the script for the film and did not learn he was playing the character Mace Windu until he was fitted for his costume (it is said that he was eager to accept any role, just for the chance to be a part of the Star Wars saga).
In 2005, he began with the sports drama, Coach Carter, where he played a coach (based on the actual coach Ken Carter) dedicated to teaching his players that education is more important than basketball. Jackson also returned for two sequels: XXX: State of the Union, this time commanding Ice Cube, and the final prequel George Lucas installment, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. His last film for 2005 was The Man alongside comedian Eugene Levy. On November 4, 2005, he was presented with the Hawaii International Film Festival Achievement in Acting Award.
Jackson gave his consent for Marvel Comics to design their "Ultimate" version of the character Nick Fury after his likeness. Jackson will cameo as the character in the 2008 Iron Man film. Jackson has also had a song named after him, entitled Sammy L. Jackson by Hot Action Cop. The song was featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 film S.W.A.T, in which Jackson appeared.
Jackson has been parodied multiple times in various television shows and films. He was parodied twice on Chappelle's Show where he was played by comedian Dave Chappelle in sketches involving Mace Windu and a fake commercial peddling "Samuel Jackson" beer (a parody of Samuel Adams). He has also been spoofed in the film Team America: World Police, where he was portrayed as a villainous member of the Film Actors Guild, and the 2007 film Epic Movie, poking fun at his role in Snakes on a Plane. Jackson was mentioned on the animated television show Family Guy in the episode Brian Does Hollywood, when Chris declared that "Samuel L. Jackson is in everything" (pointing to Jackson's extensive filmography) at which point Brian is shown directing Jackson in a pornographic movie.
Jackson has revealed in an interview that he sees every one of his movies in theaters with paying customers claiming that "Even during my theater years, I wished I could watch the plays I was in--while I was in them! I dig watching myself work." He also enjoys collecting the action figures of the characters he portrays in his films including Jules Winnfield, Shaft, Mace Windu, and Frozone.
Jackson is bald in real life, but enjoys wearing unusual wigs in his films. For the film Black Snake Moan, he was allowed to choose the hairstyle he wanted for his character. He is a comic book and anime fan and can be seen reading a copy of the comic book 100 Bullets in the music video for Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) by Cobra Starship. |
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Samuel L. Jackson Quote(s)
| I don't mind dying, I just don't wanna go out like some punk. -- on the subject of his character's probable death in Star Wars Episode III |
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