Samuel L. Jackson is an award-winning American actor whose career, spanning almost three decades, has been home to memorable performances in films such as Jungle Fever, Pulp Fiction and the first three episodes of the Star Wars trilogy.
He was born in Washington, D.C. on December 21, 1948. He joined in school performances before he studied at Moorhouse College in Atlanta, where he initially studied architecture, before shifting to drama. His first feature film, Together for Days, was shown in 1972. After appearing in several television movies and plays, he moved to New York in 1976, where he appeared in plays, as well as films like Coming to America. He was battling a cocaine and alcohol addiction, as he was being mentored by Morgan Freeman and Spike Lee.
After Jackson successfully entered rehab, he starred in the 1991 Spike Lee film Jungle Fever, as the cocaine-addicted brother of Wesley Snipes. The Cannes Film Festival awarded him a special Best Supporting Actor award for the role. He appeared in other films, such as 1993’s Jurassic Park, before snagging a major role in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction. It earned him an Oscar and a BAFTA Award, both for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in the film Die Hard with a Vengeance, opposite Bruce Willis.
At the start of the 2000s, Jackson appeared in films such as Rules of Engagement, Unbreakable, Shaft, Formula 51, S.W.A.T., xXx and the Star Wars series, as Mace Windu. He also provided his voice to the animated film The Incredibles.
In 2005, his portrayal of a high school basketball coach in the film Get Carter won Jackson an Image Award for Best Actor. He also appeared in the 2006 cult classic Snakes on a Plane, which he joined solely because of the title. In 2007, he appeared in the films Black Snake Moan and the horror flick 1408.