Laurence Fishburne was born Lawrence Fishburne (note the spelling change), on June 30, 1961 in Augusta, GA. During his long career, he has been known as Laurence Fishburne III, Lawrence Fishburne III, Larry Fishburne, and Lawrence Fishburne, though in 1991 he made the final decision to go as Laurence Fishburne.

At a very young age, Fishburne's parents divorced, and he moved with his mother to Brooklyn. He had always displayed a knack for acting, and it was then that his mother encouraged him to put his talents to use. He landed his first role in 1973, on ABC's soap opera "One Life to Live", and stayed there until 1976. In 1975, he landed his first film role as the 'me' in Cornbread, Earl, and Me.

In 1977, when he was only 16, Laurence Fishburne lied about his age and audtioned for a role in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. He was cast as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Tyrone Miller, knicknamed 'Mr. Clean'. Filming and production took two years, and the movie was released in 1979. In addition to all the legendary problems that occurred during filming, Fishburne was also exposed to the heavy drinking and drugging habits of the adult actors between shooting days, which effectively caused him to say goodbye to his childhood.

Returning to Hollywood after the long shoot, Fishburne quickly discovered that the only roles available for black actors were as thugs and hoodlums, and so had many roles as such through most of the early 80's; however, in 1986, an opportunity to play a different sort of character presented itself in the form of Cowboy Curtis, best friend of Pee-Wee Herman in the children's show "Pee-Wee's Playhouse". Wanting the positive change from playing such hardened characters, he accepted the position. By the early 90's, more and more roles were available for black actors, and so Fishburne was able to escape the typical roles of his earlier career.

In addition to Apocolypse Now, Fishburne went on to act in such notable movies as Rumble Fish (1983); The Cotton Club (1984); The Color Purple (1985); School Daze (1986); King of New York (1990); Boyz N the Hood (1991); What's Love Got to Do With It (1993); Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993); Othello (1995); Hoodlum (1997); and The Matrix (1999). He will also be appearing in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).

In addition to his many roles on television and in movies, Laurence Fishburn has had several experiences acting on stage. Among these have been the leading role of Sterling Johnson in "Two Trains Running" (1992) and England's King Henry II in "The Lion in Winter" (1999). He also wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the one-act play "Riff Raff" (1994), which sold out its entire New York City run, and was also a major hit in Los Angeles.

For his performances both on the small screen and the big screen, and also on stage, Laurence Fishburne has won and received nominations for many awards. They include: nominations for the Emmy, Golden Globe, and CableACE Awards in The Tuskegee Airmen, and also an NAACP Image Award for Best Actor; an Emmy award for his role in an episode of "Tribeca"; an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role as Ike Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It; an NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in Boyz N the Hood; and the Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Theater World Award for his role as Sterling Johnson in Two Trains Running.

Laurence Fishburne, unlike many actors and actresses, does use his popularity and money to help out good causes. His most prominent is as a U.S. Fund Ambassador for UNICEF, which he has been active with since 1996. In his work, he associates with other well-known names, such as Maya Angelou, Katie Couric, Jane Curtin, James Kiberd, and Edward James Olmos, all U.S. Fund Ambassadors.

In 1985, Laurence Fishburne married Hajna O. Moss, with whom he had two children; a son, Langston, born in 1987, and a daughter, Montana, born in 1991. In the mid-1990's, Fishburne and Moss divorced; however, in 2001, Fishburne became engaged to Gina Torres, and they were married in 2002.

In addition to being a prolific actor, Laurence Fishburne has also had experience in writing, directing, and producing films. For Laurence Fishburne's complete filmography, see below.

Actor
Biker Boyz (2003) .... Manuel "Smoke" Galloway
Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) .... Morpheus
Mystic River (2003)
Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) .... Morpheus
Matrix Revisited, The (2001) (V) .... Himself/Morpheus
Osmosis Jones (2001) (voice) .... Thrax
2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000) (TV) (as Lawrence Fishburne) .... Himself/Morpheus
Sex and the Matrix (2000) (TV) (archive footage) .... Morpheus
Once in the Life (2000) .... 20/20 Mike
VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Michael Jordan to the Max (2000) (voice) .... Narrator
Matrix, The (1999) .... Morpheus
Lion in Winter, The (theatre 1999) .... King Henry II
Welcome to Hollywood (1998) .... Himself
Always Outnumbered (1998) (TV) .... Socrates Fortlow ... aka Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (2002) (TV) (USA: DVD title)
Hoodlum (1997) .... Bumpy Johnson
Event Horizon (1997) .... Captain Miller
Miss Evers' Boys (1997) (TV) .... Caleb Humphries
Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary (1996) (TV) .... Himself
Fled (1996) .... Charles Piper
Before Your Eyes (1996) (TV) .... Narrator
Othello (1995) .... Othello
Tuskegee Airmen, The (1995) (TV) .... Hannibal 'Iowa' Lee Jr.
Just Cause (1995) .... Tanny Brown
Bad Company (1995) .... Nelson Crowe
Higher Learning (1995) .... Professor Maurice Phipps
Riff Raff (theatre debut 1994) .... Mike "20/20" Leon
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) .... Vinnie ... aka Innocent Moves (1993)
What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) .... Ike Turner, Sr.
"Wild West, The" (1993) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Nat Love
Choices (1992) (TV) .... Himself
Two Trains Running (theatre 1991) .... Sterling Johnson
Deep Cover (1992) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Russell Stevens, Jr./John Hull
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) .... Himself
Class Action (1991) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Nick Holbrook
Cadence (1991) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Roosevelt Stokes ... aka Count a Lonely Cadence (1991) ... aka Stockade (1991)
Boyz N the Hood (1991) .... Furious Styles ... aka Boys in the Hood (1991)
Decoration Day (1990) (TV) .... Michael Waring, DOD Man
"Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) TV Series (voice) (as Larry Fishburne) ... aka "American Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) (UK)
King of New York (1990) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Jimmy Jump
Christmas Special (1988) (TV) .... Cowboy Curtis ... aka Pee-Wee Herman's Christmas Special] (1988) (TV) (USA: complete title)
Red Heat (1988) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Lt. Charlie Stobbs CPD
School Daze (1988) .... Dap
Cherry 2000 (1987) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Glu Glu Lawyer
Gardens of Stone (1987) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Flanagan
Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A (1987) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Max
"Pee-wee's Playhouse" (1986) TV Series .... Cowboy Curtis
Band of the Hand (1986) .... Cream
Quicksilver (1986) .... Voodoo (as Larry Fishburne)
Color Purple, The (1985) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Swain
Cotton Club, The (1984) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Bumpy Rhodes
For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983)(as Larry Fishburme) (TV) .... Jimbo Collins ... aka For Us, the Living (1983) (TV) (USA: short title)
Rumble Fish (1983) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Midget
Death Wish II (1982) (as Laurence Fishburne III) .... Cutter, Mugger
"Six O'Clock Follies, The" (1980) TV Series .... Robby Robinson
Willie and Phil (1980) .... Wilson, Willie's Student
Rumor of War, A (1980) (TV) .... Lightbulb
Fast Break (1979) (as Lawrence Fishburne III) .... Street Kid
Apocalypse Now (1979) (as Larry Fishburne) .... Gunner's Mate 3rd Class (GM3) Tyrone Miller/'Mr. Clean' ... aka Apocalypse Now Redux (2001) (International: English title: longer version)
Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) .... Wilford Robinson ... aka Hit the Open Man (1975)
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band (1975) (TV)
"One Life to Live" (1968) TV Series .... Dr. Joshua 'Josh' Hall #1 (1973-1976) ... aka "One Life to Live: The Summer of Seduction" (2001) (USA: promotional title)
Yurei says I thought you may want to add to the list "Infinity Express" which is a movie playing at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. that he narrated. I'm not too sure what the production date is but I know that he was the narrator for it. (Thanks Yurei!)

Producer
Once in the Life (2000) (producer)
Always Outnumbered (1998) (TV) (executive producer) ... aka Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (2002) (TV) (USA: DVD title)
Hoodlum (1997) (executive producer)
Miss Evers' Boys (1997) (TV) (executive producer)

Director
Once in the Life (2000)
Riff Raff; theatre debut 1994

Writer
Once in the Life (2000)
Riff Raff; theatre debut 1994

Notable TV guest appearances
"Inside the Actors Studio" (1994)
"Tribeca" (1993) playing "Martin" in episode: "Box, The" (episode # 1.1) 3/23/1993
"American Experience, The" (1988) playing "Martin Delany"(voice) in episode: "Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry, The" 10/1991
"Arsenio Hall Show, The" (1989) playing "Himself" 1991
"Equalizer, The" (1985) playing "Casey Taylor" in episode: "Race Traitors" (episode # 4.20) 6/29/1989
"Spenser: For Hire" (1985) playing "David Mukende"(as Larry Fishburne) in episode: "Personal Demons" (episode # 2.14) 2/7/1987
"Miami Vice" (1984) in episode: "Walk-Alone" (episode # 3.4) 10/17/1986
"Hill Street Blues" (1981) playing "Maurice Haynes" in episode: "Look Homeward, Ninja" (episode # 6.20) 3/20/1986
"Pee-wee's Playhouse" (1986) playing "Cowboy Curtis"
"M*A*S*H" (1972) playing "Corporal Dorsey"(as Larry Fishburne) in episode: "Tooth Shall Set You Free, The" (episode # 10.14) 2/8/1982