Samuel L. Jackson

QUICK FACTS
NAME
Samuel L. Jackson
OCCUPATION
Film Actor
BIRTH DATE
December 21, 1948 (age 69)
EDUCATION
Morehouse College
PLACE OF BIRTH
Washington, D.C.
FULL NAME
Samuel Leroy Jackson
ZODIAC SIGN
Sagittarius

One of Hollywood's most hardworking actors, Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in countless movies, including Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park and Star Wars: Episode I.
Synopsis
Samuel L. Jackson was born on December 21, 1948 in Washington, D.C. He was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee by his grandmother. Jackson graduated from Morehouse College in 1972 and parodied racial inequality with a theater company. He moved to New York City, where his friendship with Spike Lee helped him get his first film gigs. In 1994, he had landed a role in the cult hit, Pulp Fiction. At the age of 63, he had appeared in more than 100 films, and in 2011 he was named the highest grossing actor of all time with more than $ 7.2 billion in wealth.

Early life
Samuel L. Jackson was born on December 21, 1948 in Washington, DC, and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under the strict guidance of his grandmother. His mother, Elizabeth Jackson, joined them when he was 10 years old. As the first enthusiast of the film, Jackson used to watch movies at the local cinema and was shown in the complicated messages that surrounded the black presence on the screen. Versions of Band of Angels were edited for the black audience in Chattanooga, omitting a scene in which Sidney Poitier slaps a white woman.


Jackson's earliest memories remained with him when he entered the historic Morehouse College in Atlanta and became increasingly involved in the black power movement. In 1969, in his third year, he protested the absence of blacks on the board of directors by locking several board members in a building for two days, and was immediately expelled from the university. That same year, Jackson saw a performance by Negro Ensemble Company and gained a new inspiration: acting. After working as a social worker for two years in Los Angeles, Jackson returned to Morehouse to continue the study of acting and received his degree in 1972.

Early career
After college, Jackson joined the Black Image Theater Company with his future wife, LaTanya Richardson, whom he met at Morehouse's sister school, Spelman College. They toured the country and performed plays characterized by a fiery combination of anger and humor for mainly white audiences. In 1976, after having exhausted his enthusiasm for politically charged theater, Jackson moved with Richardson to Harlem, New York, to pursue an acting career outside strictly defined perimeters of race. He began acting in Off-Broadway productions, such as The Mighty Gents by Richard Wesley, an adaptation of Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht, and Samm-Art Williams's Home. He also got a job replacing Bill Cosby during the rehearsals of The Cosby Show.


In 1981, while working on Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play, Jackson had two life-changing encounters: he met actor Morgan J. Freeman, who became a great friend and convinced Jackson that he could be a successful actor, and a University of New York. the film student named Spike Lee, who expressed his enthusiasm for Jackson's performances and urged him to appear in the films he planned to make. Jackson consented and kept his word, appearing in several of Lee's early films, including School Daze, Do the Right Thing and Mo 'Better Blues.

The friendship was worth Jackson, as it was his role as the Gator drug addict in Lee's Jungle Fever that finally attracted the attention of critics and inspired some well-deserved praise. The judges of the Cannes Film Festival created the category of best supporting actor to award the prize to Jackson. He also received an award from New York film critics. When playing against a drug demon on screen, Jackson was forced to face his own demon off the screen, an increasingly destructive addiction to drugs and alcohol. The cathartic nature of his action allowed Jackson to give up drugs, which made him a personal and professional success.

Jackson continued to take small roles in films such as Juice and True Romance, and played an FBI agent in the thriller White Sands, showing his impressive range and ability to add a peculiar touch to each character. He overcame two Hollywood failures, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I and Amos & Andrew, making small but affecting performances in Menace II Society and Patriot Games.

Breakout role
In 1994, after establishing a reputation as one of the most hardworking actors in Hollywood, Jackson had the opportunity to play the pivotal role of his career in Quentin Tarantino's instant cult classic, Pulp Fiction. Working from the dreamed script of any actor, Jackson played Jules