Born in 1961, Laurence Fishburne is the son of a high school math teacher and a corrections officer that divorced when he was very young. The bulk of his childhood was spent in the Bronx, where he was raised after his mother moved him from their southern hometown of Augusta to New York, where he still got to see his father every month. As a child, he was particularly interested in the arts, which is something he excelled at later in his life.
We all know and love Laurence Fishburne for his movies such as the Matrix, but it seems some of his most successful work is actually in television. Who, for example, knew the Laurence Fishburne actually got his big start in acting in television? And even more shocking than that is the fact that he got his start on a soap opera, not just any television series. The actor who portrays some of the most awesome characters in the movies has actually had quite the television career, and we love that some of his earliest roles were some of his most surprising.
The First Role
When he was only 12-years-old, Fishburne landed his first television role. Perhaps this is the role credited for making him the star he is today. The role was on One Life to Live, a popular soap opera for many decades. It was 1973, and the show was in the peak of its popularity, which was enough to make anyone more famous than they already were.
Nightmare on Elm Street
During the 80s, horror movies were the most popular. It was this decade in which people loved to gather around the television to watch scary movies. It’s also the decade in which some of the best and most memorable horror movies were made. And it makes sense that Fishburne would have a small role in one of the best horror films of the decade. He had a small role as a hospital employee in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street.
Ike Turner
One of the most fun aspects of Fishburne’s movie career is how fast he went from television star to small parts in movies to an Oscar nominated role. He seemed to appear out of nowhere in the Oscar race in 1993. It was his role as Ike Turner in the movie What’s Love Got to do With It. It was his first of many, and it was just the start of his long and successful career in the movies.
Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
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