Introduction
Samuel Leroy Jackson or Samuel L. Jackson is an American actor as well as a film producer. Jackson has been a part of such movies that make the highest gross revenue. There were many films that were done by the actor in the early 1990s that have given him prominence. The actor is also known to provide his voice to many animated movies, TV series, and video games. Samuel L. Jackson is the highest all-time box office star having more than 5.15 billion USD as box office gross.
Early Life
Samuel L. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the son of Elizabeth and Roy Henry Jackson. He met his father only twice throughout and later he died of alcoholism. The actor was raised by his mother who worked in a factory. Samuel L. Jackson did his graduation from Riverside High School in Tennessee.
The actor used to play French horn and trumpet in the orchestra of the school. The actor also used to play the flute. Samuel L. Jackson wanted to pursue a degree in marine biology and hence attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA but later on, realized that he wanted a career in acting and hence changed his major. Before completing his graduation, the actor co-founded the famous theatre “Just Us Theatre". The versatile actor is happily married to LaTanya Richardson, with whom he has a daughter.
Acting Career
Samuel L. Jackson appeared in more than 100 movies and each of his movies depicts a new version of himself. However, in most of his movies, he played either a drug addict or a bad guy before he became an action hero. His likeness was also used for the Marvel Comics character, Nick Fury, and signed nine movies starting from Iron Man (2008) for Marvel Studios. For his movie “Pulp Fiction”, he got nominated for the award of the best-supporting actor by academy awards and Golden Globes and received Film Critic Award and Best Actor in a supporting role BAFTA.
He worked on a variety of projects that gave him a great opportunity to display the remarkable versatility he can carry out. Jackson got recognized for his role as a drug addict brother in the movie Jungle Fever in 1991 which was directed by Spike Lee. This movie also gave him a special acting prize at the grand Cannes Film Festival after which his career took a great turn. Though his career had a big hit then, Samuel L. Jackson made sure that he stays grounded and continued staying in the Harlem brownstone, the same place he used to stay in his stage days.
Filmography
Samuel L. Jackson has done many hit movies that gave him prime importance. The actor’s versatility was seen in the year 1996 when five of his films were released that were completely different from each other. For instance in the thriller “The Long Kiss Goodnight” he played the role of a private detective, in “Time to Kill” made him plays a father driven to murder, in “The Great White Hype” where he depicted to be a boxing promoter, and many more came. Be it a dedicated teacher, a hostage negotiator, a homeless musician, or anything that came into his play, he played each of his characters with utmost zeal and did justice to each one of them. In the year 2005, he starred in the sports drama “Coach Carter” where the actor played the role of a coach who taught his players that education comes before basketball.
The movie had mixed reviews, but it was highly appreciated for Samuel L. Jackson’s fantastic performance. On January 30, 2006, the actor was obliged and honored with a hand and a footprint ceremony at the theatre of Grauman's Chinese that made him the seventh African American and 191st actor to have been recognized like this. Samuel L. Jackson, in an interview, said that he takes roles that are exciting and that portray an interesting character story. Apart from the movies, the great actor has left his footprints in many television shows as well and has given his voice to audiobooks. Jackson also launched a joint campaign with Prizeo to fight against Alzheimer’s disease in the year 2013. The actor is a pleasing personality along with versatile.
