Samuel L.

Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. Widely
regarded as one of the most popular actors of his generation, the films in which he has
appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing
actor of all time (when cameo appearances are excluded).[1][2][3] He rose to fame with films such
as Coming to America (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Patriot Games (1992), Juice (1992), Menace II
Society (1993), True Romance (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), and Fresh (1994).
Jackson has especially been noted for his roles in the Spike Lee films School Daze (1988), Do the
Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Oldboy (2013) and Chi-
Raq (2015) and in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Django
Unchained (2012), and The Hateful Eight (2015). For his role in Pulp Fiction, he was nominated for
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Jackson is a highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 150 films. His other roles include Die Hard
with a Vengeance (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), Hard Eight (1996), Eve's Bayou (1997), The Red
Violin (1998), The Negotiator (1998), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000) and its
2019 sequel/reboot, Coach Carter (2005), Snakes on a Plane (2006), The Other Guys (2010), Kong:
Skull Island (2017), and Glass (2019). Jackson also won widespead recognition as the Jedi Mace
Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005). With his permission, his likeness was used for
the Ultimate version of the Marvel Comics character Nick Fury; he subsequently played Fury in
11 Marvel Cinematic Universe films, beginning with a cameo appearance in Iron Man (2008), as well
as guest-starring in the television series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He will reprise this role in a
future Disney+ series.[4]
Jackson has provided his voice for several animated films, documentaries, television series, and
video games, including Lucius Best / Frozone in the Pixar films The Incredibles (2004)
and Incredibles 2 (2018), Mace Windu in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), Whiplash
in Turbo (2013), the title character of the anime television series Afro Samurai (2007), and Frank
Tenpenny in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). In 2016, Jackson served as the
narrator of the acclaimed documentary I Am Not Your Negro based on James Baldwin's writings.

Early life
Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. on December 21, 1948,[5] the only child of
Elizabeth Harriett (née Montgomery) and Roy Henry Jackson.[6][7] He grew up in Chattanooga,
Tennessee.[5][8] His father lived away from the family in Kansas City, Missouri, and later died of
alcoholism. Jackson met him only twice during his life.[9][10] He was raised by his mother, a factory
worker and later a supplies buyer for a mental institution; he was also raised by his maternal
grandparents, Edgar and Pearl Montgomery, as well as extended family.[7][9][11] According to DNA
tests, Jackson partially descends from the Benga people of Gabon, and he became a naturalized
citizen of Gabon in 2019.[12] He attended several segregated schools[13] and graduated from Riverside
High School in Chattanooga.[5] He played the French horn, piccolo, trumpet, and flute in the school
orchestra.[14][15] His stutter started during childhood. He learned to "pretend to be other people who
didn't stutter". He still uses the word "motherfucker" to get through a speech block. He still has days
where he stutters.[15][16] Initially intent on pursuing a degree in marine biology, he attended Morehouse
College in Atlanta, Georgia.[5] After joining a local acting group to earn extra points in a class, he
found an interest in acting and switched his major.[17] Before graduating in 1972, he co-founded the
Just Us Theatre.[9][18]
After Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jackson attended King's funeral in Atlanta as
one of the ushers.[19] He then travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, to join an equal rights protest march.
In a 2005 Parade interview, he revealed, "I was angry about the assassination, but I wasn't shocked
by it. I knew that change was going to take something different – not sit-ins, not peaceful
coexistence."[20] In 1969, Jackson and several other students held members of the Morehouse
College board of trustees (including Martin Luther King Sr.) hostage on the campus, demanding
reform in the school's curriculum and governance.[21] The college eventually agreed to change its
policy, but Jackson was charged with and eventually convicted of unlawful confinement, a second-
degree felony.[22] He was then suspended for two years for his criminal record and his actions. He
would later return to the college to earn a BA in drama in 1972.[23] While he was suspended, he took
a job as a social worker in Los Angeles.[24] He decided to return to Atlanta, where he met with Stokely
Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and others active in the Black Power movement.[20] He began to feel
empowered with his involvement in the movement, especially when the group began buying guns.
[20]
 However, before he could become involved with any significant armed confrontations, his mother
sent him to Los Angeles after the FBI warned her that he would die within a year if he remained with
the group.[20] In a 2018 interview with Vogue, he denied having been a member of the Black Panther
Party.