Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American actor and producer.
His estimated net worth is approximately 170$ million.
Early life
Samuel Leroy Jackson was born on December 21, 1948, in Washington. Samuel grew up with his mother Elizabeth in the fourth-largest Tennessee city, Chattanooga. His father, Roy Henry Jackson, met only twice. Samuel is the descent of African ethnic group – Benga people from Gabon. He was raised in segregation community as a protestant.
Samuel graduated Riverside High School and he was a part of a school orchestra, playing French horn. He enrolled Morehouse College in Atlanta in order to earn marine biology degree. Samuel switched his major, after enjoying the local acting group. During student years, he co-founds Just Us Theatre. He finally graduated in 1972.
Samuel has speech disorder known as stuttering.
Personal life
During his student period, Samuel met his future wife, an American actress LaTanya Richardson. The couple married in 1980 and two years later, they got daughter Zoe.
Samuel is famous for his charity work. He collaborated with charity Prizeo to collectthe mony for Alzheimer’s disease.With his wife, he co-founded their own charity organization.
As he raised in segregation community, he strongly supported Barak Obama’s president candidacy in 2008.
Samuel is passionate about collecting the action figures from the movies where he played.
Acting career
Samuel’s first acting steps were in theaters. In the early 70s, he played in several plays, including The Threepenny Opera and A Soldier’s Play. Soon after, he moved to New York, where he played for 10 years at the Yale Repertory Theater. He took the roles in various plays such as Two Trains Running and The Piano Lesson. Issues with drugs and alcohol prevent him from playing roles on Broadway.
His movie debut was in 1972 when he took the role in blacksploitation film Together for Days. He continues to play mainly in small roles like romantic movie Coming to America. In this phase of his career, Samuel’s mentor was Morgan Freeman.
Acquaintance with an American director Spike Lee provides Samuel another two roles in the comedy Do the Right Thing and School Daze.
In the early 90s, he got a small role in the movie hit Goodfellas playing the gangster Parnell “Stacks” Edwards. At the same time, he was stand-in person in the TV sitcom The Cosby Show. He was doing that for three years.
In 1991 Samuel took the role in drama Jungle Fever, where he played crack addicted “Gator” Purify. This role came in the time when Samuel was on rehab from his own cocaine addiction. Thanks to this role, he won “Supporting Actor” special award from Cannes Film Festival. This award was specially created for Samuel’s role.
Samuel’s first lead role was in satirical comedy Loaded Weapon 1 ( 1993 ), where he played detective Wes Luger. In the same year he co-starring with Nicolas Cage in comedy Amos & Andrew. Samuel also appeared in the Spielberg sci-fi hit Jurassic Park in 1993.
Thanks to the role in crime movie True Romance, director Quentin Tarantino wrote and offered Samuel a role of Jules Winnfield in the neo-noir film Pulp Fiction. This was the role which makes Samuel famous and recognizable worldwide. He also won several nominations and BAFTA award for Best Supporting Role.
On the wings of fame that brought him roles in Pul Fiction, he played in drama Losing Isiah, sports comedy The Great White Hype and thriller Kiss of Death, but Samuel received poor critics for this parts.
However, he regains positive reviews by taking the co-lead role with Bruss Willis in the box office hit Die Hard with a Vengeance. The same success he achieved in the drama role A Time To Kill, co-starring with Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey. The role of a vengeful father brought him NAACP Image for Best Supporting Actor.
By the end of the 90s, Samuel proved himself as box office star. He played a dedicated teacher in drama One Eight Seven. The role in the drama Eve’s Bayou ( which he co-produced it ) brought him Spirit award for Best First Feature. New collaboration with Tarantino in crime movie Jackie Brown brought him Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for Best Actor.
The 2000s Samuel began with gaining the star on Hollywood walk of fame. He took significant roles in supernatural film Unbreakable and Vietnam war movie Rules Of Engagement.
At the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Samuel was honored with handprints in the concrete of the theater’s forecourt in 2006.
To this day Samuel appeared in many films, most of them were box office hits such as Freedomland, Inglourious Basterds, Mother and Child, Home of the Brave, and so on.
Quick summary:
Full Name: Samuel Leroy Jackson
Date of Birth: December 21, 1948
Birth Place: Washington, USA
Age: 69 years
Profession: actor, producer
Height: 1.89
Weight: 85 kg
Net worth: 170$ million
