Samuel L. Jackson

Average rating: Not rated
Total ratings: 0
Movies listed: 92

Born: 1948-12-21
From: Washington, D.C., USA

Awards

Academy Honorary Award2022 · 94th Academy Awards
Silver Bear1998 · Silver Bear
Silver Bear for Best Actor1997 · Silver Bear for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role1995 · BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role · Pulp Fiction
Film Independent Spirit Awards1995 · Film Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead1995 · Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead · Pulp Fiction

Biography

Samuel L. Jackson is an American actor and producer whose voice, authority, humor, and intensity have made him one of the most recognizable screen performers in the world. Born Samuel Leroy Jackson in Washington, D.C., on December 21, 1948, he was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and later attended Morehouse College. Before global film fame, he built a foundation in theater and politically engaged artistic circles, experiences that informed the discipline and force of his later screen work.

Jackson's stage career included work at the Public Theater and important roles in plays by Charles Fuller and August Wilson. He originated Private Louis Henderson in A Soldier's Play off Broadway and Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson at Yale Repertory Theatre. Those theater roots are evident in his screen acting: he often uses rhythm, pause, and verbal attack with the timing of a stage performer, even in highly commercial films.

His film breakthrough was gradual. Jackson appeared in small but memorable parts in Coming to America, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Patriot Games, Juice, True Romance, Jurassic Park, Menace II Society, and Fresh. His collaborations with Spike Lee, including School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Oldboy, and Chi-Raq, helped bring him broader attention and allowed him to play characters shaped by anger, wit, addiction, social pressure, and moral conflict.

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction made Jackson an international star. As Jules Winnfield, he delivered one of 1990s cinema's most quoted performances, balancing menace, comedy, philosophical surprise, and sudden spiritual uncertainty. The role won him a BAFTA Award and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He later worked with Tarantino on Jackie Brown, Kill Bill-related voice work, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight, becoming one of the director's signature actors.