49 Facts About Laurence Fishburne

Laurence John Fishburne III was born on July 30,1961 and is an American actor.

Laurence Fishburne first came to prominence appearing in Apocalypse Now and achieved further recognition for his supporting role in Boyz n the Hood.

Laurence Fishburne has won six Emmy Awards for various television projects, and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Two Trains Running.

Laurence Fishburne has received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Laurence Fishburne is a graduate of Lincoln Square Academy in New York, which closed in the 1980s.

In 2025, on an episode of Finding Your Roots, Laurence Fishburne learned that his biological father was a man named William Seigel Bohannan.

Bohannan was a member of the US military stationed at Fort Gordon when he met Laurence Fishburne's mother, who was a volunteer for the USO.

In 1972, at the age of 11, Laurence Fishburne received positive reviews for his first acting role in the initial ABC Theater teleplay If You Give a Dance You Gotta Pay the Band.

Laurence Fishburne 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.

Laurence Fishburne spent much of the 1980s in and out of television and periodically on stage.

Laurence Fishburne appeared in the early 1980s movies Band of the Hand, Death Wish 2 and The Cotton Club, and had a minor role in the critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg film The Color Purple.

Laurence Fishburne had a recurring role as Cowboy Curtis on Paul Reubens' CBS children's television series Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Laurence Fishburne featured in Red Heat beside Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi.

Laurence Fishburne starred as "Dap" in Spike Lee's School Daze.

Laurence Fishburne's character was a depiction of an African American, culturally inclined college student at a historically black college.

In 1990, Laurence Fishburne played Jimmy Jump in the controversial King of New York, and in 1991, starred in Boyz n the Hood.

Laurence Fishburne won an Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture" for his performance as West Indian Professor Maurice Phipps in the 1995 American drama ensemble film, Higher Learning.

Laurence Fishburne played the title role in Othello, the second African-American actor, after Paul Robeson, to perform the role.

In 1995, Laurence Fishburne wrote, directed, and starred in the play Riff-Raff at the now defunct Off-Broadway Circle Rep Theater.

In 1997, Laurence Fishburne starred in the science fiction horror Event Horizon alongside Sam Neill.

Laurence 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.

Laurence Fishburne provided the voice of Thrax in Osmosis Jones in 2001.

Laurence Fishburne reprised his role as Morpheus in the Matrix sequels The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003.

Laurence Fishburne briefly featured as a stretcher-bearer in one version of the video for The Spooks' song "Things I've Seen" and appeared with Tom Cruise as Theodore Brassell, IMF superior of Cruise's character in Mission: Impossible III.

Laurence Fishburne has worked with actress Angela Bassett on four projects.

Laurence Fishburne played a gay high school teacher in a Los Angeles production of Alfred Uhry's Without Walls in the same year.

Laurence Fishburne played terrorist leader, Ahmat who was revealed to be CIA in the 2006 film Five Fingers.

Laurence Fishburne provided the voice of the narrator in the 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, TMNT, which was a commercial success.

On February 24,2007, Laurence Fishburne was honored with the Harvard Foundation's Artist of the Year award at the annual show Cultural Rhythms.

Laurence Fishburne received this honor for his achievements as an actor and entertainer and for his humanitarian pursuits.

Laurence Fishburne won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for his performance.

Laurence 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.

In May 2009, Laurence Fishburne performed on-stage in the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, DC.

Laurence Fishburne starred in Predators in 2010 and Contagion in 2011.

On June 7,2011, Laurence 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.

Laurence Fishburne played Perry White in the Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot Man of Steel.

In 2013, Laurence Fishburne joined the cast of Hannibal, as Dr Jack Crawford, head of Behavioral Sciences at the FBI.

In 2014, Laurence Fishburne reprised his role as Morpheus in a series of Kia K900 commercials.

In 2015, Laurence Fishburne joined the ABC sitcom Black-ish in the recurring role of Pops; Laurence Fishburne is an executive producer on the show.

Laurence Fishburne serves as an executive producer for the Freeform sitcom Grown-ish, a spin-off series to Black-ish.

Also in 2017, Laurence Fishburne starred in the comedy-drama Last Flag Flying, as the character Rev Richard Mueller.

In 2018, Laurence Fishburne played Bill Foster in Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp, directed by Peyton Reed.

Laurence Fishburne appeared in the series as the Beyonder and reprised his role as Bill Foster from Ant-Man and the Wasp.

In January 2023, it was announced that Laurence Fishburne had been cast as Regis in the fourth season of The Witcher.

Laurence Fishburne starred in the American action spy espionage thriller, The Amateur, set for debut in 2025.

Laurence Fishburne married actress Hajna O Moss in 1985, in New York.

On September 20,2017, it was confirmed that Torres and Laurence Fishburne were separated and had been keeping the separation private for the last year.

Laurence Fishburne filed for divorce on November 2,2017; he and Torres reached a final settlement on April 16,2018; and the divorce became effective May 11,2018.

Laurence Fishburne is a fan of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho; in 2009 he said he was planning to produce a movie based on Coelho's novel The Alchemist.