HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY: Samuel L. Jackson has turned 75 today..
He’s one of the most iconic figures in Hollywood: Samuel L. Jackson. From “Pulp Fiction” to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jackson has left an indelible mark on cinema, with his commanding presence and unmistakable voice, as well as his versatility as an actor.
Born in Washington, D.C., on December 21, 1948, Samuel Leroy Jackson was an only child raised by his mother and grandparents in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended the historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, first studying Marine Biology, then switching to Architecture and finally Drama.
But it was his collaboration with director Spike Lee (a fellow Morehouse alumnus) that really launched his career.
In 1989, Jackson starred in Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” a film that showcased his acting skills and paved the way for future collaborations between the two. So far, Jackson has appeared in six of Lee’s films, including “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990), “Jungle Fever” (1991) and “Chi-Raq” (2015).
Another influential director for Jackson’s career is Quentin Tarantino, who cast him as the Bible-quoting hitman Jules Winnfield in his hugely successful 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.” Jackson’s gripping performance, coupled with his delivery of Tarantino’s now-famous Ezekiel 25:17 monologue, made him an international star and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
It was at Morehouse that he also became involved in the civil rights movement. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine this year, he said that involvement led to the FBI visiting his mother in 1969 and telling her “something bad was going to happen to [him]” if he did not leave Atlanta. So she put her son on a plane to Los Angeles.
He had small roles in independent and television films, then moved to New York in 1976, where he worked in theater. Jackson had his first professional stage role in a production of Bertolt Brecht’s play “Mother Courage and her Children.”
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