Laurence Fishburne

Highest Rated: 100% Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2011)

Lowest Rated: 13% Fled (1996)

Birthday: Jul 30, 1961

Birthplace: Augusta, Georgia, USA

Dramatic actor Laurence Fishburne gained widespread acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his gripping performance as the Svengali-like Ike Turner in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) and went on to rack up an impressive string of credits playing leads and supporting roles on stage, screen, and television.Born in Augusta, GA, the sole child of a corrections officer and an educator, Fishburne was raised in Brooklyn following his parents' divorce. An unusually sensitive child with a natural gift for acting, he was taken to various New York stage auditions before landing his first professional role at the age of ten. Two years later, he made his feature film debut with a major role in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975). A turning point in the young actor's career came when he lied about his age and won the role of a young Navy gunner in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. On location in the Philippines, the teenage actor effectively bade farewell to childhood as he endured the many legendary problems that befell Coppola's production over the next two years. In between shooting days, Fishburne hung out with the adult actors, often exposing himself to their offscreen drinking and drugging antics.Back in Hollywood by the late '70s, he continued playing small supporting roles in features and on television. Like many black actors, he was frequently relegated to playing thugs and young hoodlums. He would continue to appear in Coppola productions like Rumble Fish (1983) and The Cotton Club (1984) throughout the 1980s. Wanting a change from playing heavies, he accepted a recurring role as friendly Cowboy Curtis opposite Paul Reubens on the loopy CBS children's series Pee-Wee's Playhouse. By the early '90s, Fishburne had begun to escape the stereotypical roles of his early career. In 1990, he played a psychotic hit man opposite Christopher Walken in Abel Ferrara's King of New York and a chess-playing hustler in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). Following his great success in the Tina Turner biopic, he became one of Hollywood's most prolific actors, appearing in films such as John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995). Fishburne, who had known Singleton when the latter was a security guard on the Pee-Wee's Playhouse set, had previously appeared in the director's debut film Boyz 'N the Hood (1991). After Higher Learning came Othello (1995) and Always Outnumbered, which he also produced. Fishburne had previously produced Hoodlum (1997), in which he also starred. In 1999, he stepped into blockbuster territory with his starring role in the stylish sci-fi action film The Matrix. Increasingly geared towards action films, Fishburne could be seen in the fast and furious motorcycle flick Biker Boyz as fans prepared for the release of the upcoming Matrix sequels. Indeed, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) earned Fishburne further praise from both fans and critics. The same year, Fishburne co-starred with Tim Robbins and Sean Penn in the role of a homicide detective for the Academy Award-winning thriller Mystic River. The actor went on to star as a cop-killing mobster for the crime drama Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), and as a somber professor of English in the critically acclaimed urban drama Akeelah and the Bee (2006). He would co-star in the ensemble political docudrama chronicling the life and death of Robert F. Kennedy (also in 2006), and join the cast of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007. Fishburne found success again in director Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), and co-stars in the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013) as the editor-and-chief of "The Daily Planet". In addition to his work in cinema, Fishburne has established a distinguished stage career, winning a Tony Award in 1992, for his role in August Wilson's Two Trains Running.

Photos

View All Photos (53)

Highest Rated Movies

Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone
100%
Searching for Bobby Fischer
100%
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
100%
Apocalypse Now
97%

Filmography

MOVIES

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	BOX OFFICE	YEAR
89%	John Wick: Chapter 2	Bowery King	$92M	2017
31%	Passengers	Gus Mancuso	$100.1M	2016
27%	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	Perry White	$293.8M	2016
53%	Standoff	Sade Executive Producer Producer	—	2016
No Score Yet	August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand	Actor	—	2015
62%	Rudderless	Del	$56.5k	2014
60%	The Signal	Damon	$0.5M	2014
19%	Ride Along	Omar	$110.4M	2014
44%	Khumba	Seko	$91k	2013
16%	The Colony	Briggs	—	2013
55%	Man of Steel	Perry White	$291.1M	2013
31%	A Man's Story	Actor	—	2012
No Score Yet	Slavery By Another Name	Narrator	—	2012
100%	Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone	Narrator	—	2011
84%	Contagion	Dr. Ellis Cheever	$75.7M	2011
No Score Yet	Have A Little Faith	Rev. Henry Covington	—	2011
No Score Yet	Thurgood	Actor	—	2011
64%	Predators	Noland	$52.1M	2010
No Score Yet	Black Water Transit	Jack Vermillion	—	2010
No Score Yet	The Last Full Measure	Actor	—	2010
40%	Armored	Baines	$16M	2009
36%	21	Cole Williams	$81.2M	2008
No Score Yet	Tortured	Archie Green	—	2008
No Score Yet	Days of Wrath	Actor	—	2008
37%	Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer	Voice of the Silver Surfer	$131.8M	2007
34%	TMNT	Narrator	$54.2M	2007
46%	Bobby	Edward Robinson	$11.1M	2006
70%	Mission: Impossible III	Theodore Brassel	$133.4M	2006
No Score Yet	Five Fingers	Ahmat	—	2006
84%	Akeelah and the Bee	Producer Dr. Larabee	$18.9M	2006
60%	Assault on Precinct 13	Marion Bishop	$20M	2005
No Score Yet	The Burly Man Chronicles	Actor	—	2004
36%	The Matrix Revolutions	Morpheus	$139.1M	2003
87%	Mystic River	Whitey Powers	$88.8M	2003
No Score Yet	Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty	Actor	—	2003
73%	The Matrix Reloaded	Morpheus	$281.6M	2003
23%	Biker Boyz	Smoke	$21.8M	2003
No Score Yet	The Soul of a Man	Narrator	—	2003
93%	Apocalypse Now Redux	Clean	$2M	2001
55%	Osmosis Jones	Thrax	$12.4M	2001
28%	Once in the Life	Screenwriter 20/20 Mike Director Producer	—	2001
No Score Yet	Welcome to Hollywood	Actor	—	2000
67%	Michael Jordan to the Max	Narrator	—	2000
87%	The Matrix	Morpheus	—	1999
No Score Yet	Always Outnumbered	Executive Producer Socrates Fortlow	—	1998
No Score Yet	Welcome to Hollywood	Himself	—	1998
43%	Hoodlum	Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson Executive Producer	—	1997
24%	Event Horizon	Miller	—	1997
No Score Yet	Miss Evers' Boys	Caleb Humphries Executive Producer	—	1997
No Score Yet	Century of Black Cinema	Actor	—	1997
13%	Fled	Piper	—	1996
68%	Othello	Othello	—	1995
86%	The Tuskegee Airmen	Hannibal Lee	—	1995
25%	Just Cause	Tanny Brown	—	1995
27%	Bad Company	Nelson Crowe	—	1995
50%	Higher Learning	Prof. Phipps	—	1994
100%	Searching for Bobby Fischer	Vinnie	—	1993
96%	What's Love Got To Do With It?	Ike Turner	—	1993
85%	Deep Cover	Russell Stevens Jr. / John Hull	—	1992
96%	Boyz n the Hood	Furious Styles	—	1991
100%	Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse	Actor	—	1991
75%	Class Action	Holbrook	—	1991
No Score Yet	Decoration Day	Michael Waring	—	1990
71%	King of New York	Jimmy Jump	—	1990
42%	Cadence	Stokes	—	1989
62%	Red Heat	Lt. Stobbs	—	1988
60%	School Daze	Dap Dunlap	—	1988
43%	Cherry 2000	Glu Glu Lawyer	—	1988
No Score Yet	The Father Clements Story	Actor	—	1987
43%	Gardens of Stone	Cpl. Flanagan	—	1987
74%	A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors	Max	—	1987
14%	Band of the Hand	Cream	—	1986
15%	Quicksilver	Voodoo	—	1986
88%	The Color Purple	Swain	—	1985
75%	The Cotton Club	Bumpy Rhodes	—	1984
69%	Rumble Fish	Midget	—	1983
No Score Yet	For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers	Jimbo Collins	—	1983
No Score Yet	The Death and Life of Bobby Z	Tad Bruzsa	—	1982
29%	Death Wish II	Cutter	—	1982
No Score Yet	A Rumor of War	Actor	—	1980
No Score Yet	Willie & Phil	Wilson	—	1980
No Score Yet	Fast Break	Street Kid	—	1979
97%	Apocalypse Now	Clean	—	1979
No Score Yet	Cornbread, Earl and Me	Wilford	—	1975

TV

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	YEAR
100%	Madiba 2017	Nelson Mandela NELSON MANDELA	2017
77%	The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 2015	Guest	2017
No Score Yet	Year Million 2017	Narrator Executive Producer	2017
93%	black-ish 2014	Producer Executive Producer Pops	2017 2016 2015 2014
No Score Yet	Conan 2010	Guest	2016
98%	Roots 2016	Alex Haley	2016
91%	The Late Show With Stephen Colbert 2015	Guest	2016
64%	The Muppets 2015-2016	Himself	2015
89%	Hannibal 2013-2015	Director Dr. Jack Crawford Jack Crawford	2015 2014 2013
No Score Yet	Jimmy Kimmel Live 2003	Guest	2015 2010
No Score Yet	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 2000-2015	Ray Langston Raymond Langston	2015 2011 2010 2009 2008
No Score Yet	The View 1997	Guest	2014 2011
No Score Yet	CSI: Miami 2002-2012	Ray Langston	2009
No Score Yet	CSI: NY 2004-2013	Ray Langston	2009
No Score Yet	Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 2009-2014	Guest	2009
No Score Yet	CSI 2003-2012	Raymond Langston

Quotes from Laurence Fishburne's Characters

Perry White:

Clicks his heels three times, and he's back in Kansas.

Perry White:

Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman!

Perry White:

Kent! Where does he go? Where does he go?..Clicks his heels three times and goes back to Kansas I suppose..

Perry White:	Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman
Perry White:	Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman.

Sade:

You want to play with me?

Sade:

You're a soldier boy. Is this a broken home?

Sade:

I see you know your guns, friend. Now you need to know your place.

Omar:	Stop throwing stuff
Miggs:	I can't I already pulled it

Omar:

If Omar shoots him then Omar shoot him

Russell Stevens Jr./John Hull:

I'd been turned out like a two-dollar whore, with no kiss and no towel.

Russell Stevens Jr./John Hull:

What would you do?

Neo:	Am I dead?
Morpheus:	Far from it.

Tank:	How?
Morpheus:	He is the one!

Morpheus:

Unfortunately, no one can be told what The Matrix is. You'll have to see it for yourself.

Niobe:	I keep thinking, what if you're wrong? What if all this, the prophecy, everything is bullshit?
Morpheus:	Then, we'll all be dead.

Cutter:

Awww, man. We look all the same to whitey, anyway. He'll never pick you out, Jiver.

Ahmat:

If more Westerners played chess, they would understand.There are no bluffs--only calculations.

Darryl:	I ain't afraid of you.
Socrates Fortlow:	Yeah you is. You ain't no fool.

Morpheus:

Neo, if you're out there, I could use some help.

Neo:	What do you want, Smith?
Agent Smith:	Oh, you haven't you figured that out? still using all the muscles except the one that matters. I want exactly what you want, I want everything.
Morpheus:	would that include a bullet from this gun?
Agent Smith:	Go ahead, Shoot. The best thing about being me, is there so many mes!

Perry White:	I just came back from Aruba... Check out my tan.
Perry White:	I just came back from Aruba. Check out my tan.

Perry White:

Can you imagine how the people on this planet would react if they knew there was someone like this out there?

Morpheus:

What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

Furious Styles:

Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children.

Neo:	I thought it wasn't real.
Morpheus:	Your mind makes it real.

Morpheus:

Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

Morpheus:

What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.

Morpheus:

If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Neo:	Am I dead?
Morpheus:	Far from it.

Morpheus:

What if tomorrow the war could be over? Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?

Morpheus:	Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you seemed so sure it was real? But if were unable to wake up from that dream, how would you tell the difference between the dream world & the real world?
Neo:	This can't be.
Morpheus:	Be what? Be real?

Morpheus:

This is a war, and we are soldiers, what if tomorrow the war could be over, isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?

Morpheus:

The matrix is a system Neo, that system is our enemy.

Neo:	I know Kung Fu!
Morpheus:	Show me!

Morpheus:	The pill you took is part of a trace program. It's design to disrupt your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location.
Neo:	What does that mean?
Cypher:	It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy because Kansas is going bye bye.

Morpheus:

You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief, Free your mind.

Neo:	I know what you're trying to do.
Morpheus:	I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it.

Morpheus:

Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!

Morpheus:

Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

Morpheus:

Morpheus: If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Morpheus:

Do you think that's air you're breathing now?

Morpheus:

Nobody can be told what the matrix is, you have to see it for yourself.

Morpheus:

Were you listening to me Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

Morpheus:	If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain
Morpheus:	If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Morpheus:

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Morpheus:

If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Morpheus:	[after knocking Neo down] How did I beat you?
Neo:	[gasping] You're too fast.
Morpheus:	Do you believe that my being faster or stronger has anything to do with my muscles in this place? You think that's air you're breathing now?

Morpheus:

He is the one.

Captain Miller:	You miss me, you blow out the hull.
Weir:	What makes you think I'll miss?

Captain Miller:

This place is a tomb!

Captain Miller:	Vacate! I want off this ship!
Weir:	You can't leave. She won't let you.
Captain Miller:	You just get your gear and get back on the Lewis and Clark, Doctor, or you'll find yourself walkin' home.
Weir:	I am home.

Captain Miller:	Oh. My. God. What happened to your eyes?
Weir:	Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see.
Captain Miller:	What are you talking about?
Weir:	I created the Event Horizon to reach the stars, but she's gone much, much farther than that. She tore a hole in our universe, a gateway to another dimension. A dimension of pure chaos. Pure... evil. When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was alive! Look at her, Miller. Isn't she beautiful?
Captain Miller:	Your "beautiful" ship killed its crew, Doctor.
Weir:	Well... now she has another crew. Now she has us.

Theodore Brassel:

Mr. Musgrave, please don't interrupt me when I'm asking rhetorical questions.

Morpheus:	Welcome...To the real world.
Morpheus:	Welcome... To the real world.

Playmate of the Year:	Who are you?
Clean:	I'm next, ma'am.

Neo:	If you're killed in the matrix, you die here?
Neo:	If you're killed in the Matrix, you die here?
Morpheus:	The body cannot live without the mind
Morpheus:	The body cannot live without the mind.

Morpheus:

Free your mind.

Morpheus:	The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Morpheus:	That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Morpheus:	Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Dr. Ellis Cheever:	Well, Dr. Gupta, there continue to be evaluations of several drugs, Ribavirin is among them. But, right now our best defence has been social distancing. No hands shaking, staying home when you're sick, washing your hands frequently.
Helpful Doctor:	Alan today on Twitter, you wrote on that the truth about this virus is being kept from the world, by the CDC, by the World Health Organisation, to allow friends of the current administration to benefit from it both financially and physically.

Morpheus:

No. What happend happend, and couldn't have happend any other way.

Weir:	Now it is time to go back.
Weir:	And now... it is time to go back.
Captain Miller:	I know, to hell
Captain Miller:	[sounding bored] I know. To hell
Weir:	You know noting. Hell is only a word. The reality is much, much worse. Let me show you!
Weir:	You know nothing. Hell is only a word. The reality is much, much worse. Let me show you!

Dr. Ellis Cheever:	No one has to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are doing that
Dr. Ellis Cheever:	Someone doesn't has to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are doing that.
Dr. Ellis Cheever:	Someone doesn't have to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are doing that.

Dr. Ellis Cheever:

So we have a virus with no treatment protocol, and no vaccine at this time.

Morpheus:

I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it.

Morpheus:

Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

Morpheus:

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

Morpheus:

As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free.

Max:	This lump over here... This is Kincaid. Now I want you to take a good look. See, he gets himself thrown in the quite room so often that you probably won't see a whole lot of him. Ain't that right, "Cool Breeze"?
Max:	This lump over here. This is Kincaid. Now I want you to take a good look. See, he gets himself thrown in the quite room so often that you probably won't see a whole lot of him. Ain't that right, 'Cool Breeze'?
Kincaid:	Right. I do it so I don't have to look at your ugly face all the time.
Max:	Yeah, I love you too.

Max:	Say, listen Doc, I got a new theory about all these suicides...Right?
Max:	Say, listen Doc, I got a new theory about all these suicides. Right?
Dr. Neil Goldman:	Don't hold back on us, Max. We need all the help we can get.
Max:	It's fu*ked up chromosomes, man. Think about it. All their parents dropped acid during the sixties.
Dr. Neil Goldman:	Well, it beats Simm's theory. She thinks it's nothing but sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.
Max:	Sh*t. That's what keeps people alive.

Max:	Girl, what are you doing?
Jennifer:	Watching TV.
Max:	Why don't you read a book? You watch too much damn TV.
Jennifer:	Research.
Max:	Oh, right. You're gonna be a TV star.
Jennifer:	Wait and see.
Max:	Well, if Simms catches you up here after lights out she is gonna chew my ass...
Jennifer:	I gotta stay up, Max!
Max:	Jennifer.
Jennifer:	Just tonight, please? I can't handle the nightmare. Not after Phillip. Not tonight.
Max:	Okay. But I never saw you.
Jennifer:	Thanks Max.

Weir:	Do you see ?!
Weir:	Do You See?!
Weir:	DO YOU SEE?!?!
Captain Miller:	Yes. I see. "Presses detonator switch"
Captain Miller:	Yes. I see. [Presses detonator switch]