LeVar Burton is an American actor, director, children's television host, and author best known for his roles as Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries Roots (1977), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994), and as host of the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for more than 23 years (1983-2006), for which he has received 12 Daytime Emmy Awards, and a Peabody Award as host and executive producer of the show.
