Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne tied the nuptial knot in 1985 with actress Hajna O. Moss in New York. They have two children, son Langston born in 1987 and daughter Montana Fishburne born in 1991. However, things did not go well between the two and they headed for a split in the 1990s.

Fishburne first met Gina Torres in February 2001. The wedding bells for the two rang in September 2002 in New York City. Five years later, in June 2007 they welcomed their first child, a daughter, Delilah.

Fishburne is an active UNICEF ambassador.

Laurence Fishburne was born on July 30, 1961 in Augusta, Georgia to Hattie Bell (née Crawford) and Laurence John Fishburne, Jr. While his father was a juvenile corrections officer, his mother served as a junior high school mathematics and science teacher.

Fishburne’s parents separated when he was young. Along with his mother, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised. He graduated from Lincoln Square Academy.

Laurence Fishburne’s first ever acting role was in 1973 for the ABC soap opera ‘One Life to Live’ as Joshua Hall. His most memorable early role came in ‘Cornbread, Earl and Me’ in which he played a young boy who witnesses the police shooting of a popular high school basketball star.

In 1976, Fishburne earned a supporting role in the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ playing the character of Tyrone Miller. The film released only in 1979.

Throughout the 1980s, Fishburne made periodic appearances in television and stage shows. He had a recurring role as Cowboy Curtis on Paul Reubens’ CBS children's television show ‘Pee-wee's Playhouse’, and guest roles in ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Spenser: For Hire’. His stage shows of this time include ‘Short Eyes’ and ‘and Loose Ends.’

Among the numerous film projects that he did in the 1980s, the most important were his roles in the critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg film ‘The Color Purple’, and Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Cotton Club’ and ‘Gardens of Stone.’ Towards the end of the decade, he featured in ‘Red Heat’ and Spike Lee’s ‘School Daze’.

The dull and somewhat lean phase of the 1980s was quickly taken over by the starry decade of the 1990s which gave Fishburne’s career the much needed boost. His lead role in John Singleton's urban tale ‘Boyz n the Hood’ earned him extensive appreciation and gained him the stardom that he eyed for.

The magnum opus of Laurence Fishburne’s career in terms of blockbuster success happened when he essayed the role of Morpheus, the hacker-mentor of Neo, in the science fiction film trilogy ‘The Matrix’, ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘The Matrix Revolutions’. The films were major hits and were critically and commercially acclaimed.

Fishburne’s remarkable authority over screen space and his talent as an actor came out beautifully when he capped the role of Ike Turner in ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’. His brilliance and power-packed performance earned him an Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role.