Laurence Fishburne was born on July 30, 1961, in Augusta, Georgia. The acting bug bit him when he was only ten years of age, and his professional start came in 1973 when, at the age of twelve, he got his first role in the ABC soap opera, “One Life To Live”. His film debut was in 1975 with his role in “Cornbread, Earl and Me”. He attended New York’s High School of the Performing Arts and four years later, he appeared in Frances Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” as “Clean”, one of the PT-boat crew opposite Martin Sheen. He said the experience of working on that Vietnam War epic had a profound effect on him.
Throughout the 1980s he appeared in a number of noteworthy films including: “The Cotton Club” (1984), “The Color Purple” (1985) and Spike Lee’s “School Daze” (1986). It was his 1991 role in “Boys N The Hood” that gained him lasting recognition as an outstanding actor. In 1993 he changed his name from Larry to Laurence and earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of singer, Ike Turner in “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” opposite Angela Bassett. He is perhaps best known today for his role as Morpheus, the mentor of Neo (Keanu Reeves) in the science fiction movie series, “The Matrix.” Fishburne’s deal for these sequels was for a reported 15 million plus 3.75% of the gross.
Laurence married actress, Hajna O. Moss, in 1985, and they had two children, a boy named Langston and a daughter named Montana. During the 1990s, they divorced and in 2002, Fishburne married another actress, Gina Torres. He currently resides in New Rochelle, New York, and his son attends Boston University.
His next role will be alongside Tom Cruise as his CIA superior in “Mission Impossible III”.
I don’t think anything is impossible for this fine actor. Way to go, Laurence!