Laurence Fishburne

A sometimes intense actor, Fishburne was born July 30, 1961, in Atlanta, Ga. He began acting in childhood, making his movie debut in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975). At 16, he was cast as Clean in Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now, leading to further roles in Coppola films and in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple.

Fishburne made a strong impression in two influential early-1990s films (Boyz N the Hood and What's Love Got to Do With It?), both times playing husband to Angela Bassett. As Tina Turner's husband Ike in the latter, he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar; he has also won a Tony and an Emmy.

Children of the '80s know him as Cowboy Curtis from "Pee Wee's Playhouse"; to a later generation of young movie fans, he is Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy. Other notable Fishburne films include School Daze, Higher Learning, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Event Horizon and Mystic River.

Filmography