Samuel L. Jackson filmography and biography
Date of birth: 21 December 1948, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Samuel L. Jackson biography
Samuel L. Jackson usually played bad guys and drug addicts before becoming an action hero, as the character Mitch Henessey, in The Long Kiss Goodnight and in Die Hard: With a Vengeance. From character player to leading man. His performance in Pulp Fiction gave him an Oscar nomination for his character Jules Winnfield. He was active in the black student movement. In the seventies he joined the Negro Ensemble Company (together with Morgan Freeman (I)). In the eighties he became well known by three movies made by Spike Lee - Do the Right Thing, Mo Better Blues and Jungle Fever. He received a Silver Berlin Bear for his part in the movie Jackie Brown as Ordell Robbi.
Samuel L. Jackson trivia
- Daughter - Zoè Jackson (b. 1982).
- Grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- One of Jackson's jobs as a struggling actor in New York was as a doorman
at the popular Manhattan Plaza subsidized apts, home to hundreds of
actors and artists, including Giancarlo Esposito, who co-starred
with Jackson in Amos amp; Andrew.
- (October 1997) Ranked #44 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie
Stars of All Time" list.
- Was an admitted drug user until he completed drug rehab two weeks before
playing a drug addict in Jungle Fever.
- Accomplished at playing brass instruments (french horn, trumpet) in
school symphony orchestras from grade 3 to grade 12.
- Graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1972.
- Was offered his role in
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace after
mentioning in an interview on UK TV show TFI Friday
that he'd really like to work with George Lucas (I).
- (January 2002) Daughter Zoe attends Vassar College.
- Briefly suspended in 1969 from Morehouse College after taking hostage
several members of the board of trustees, including the father of the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, during a protest of the failure of
the university to have black trustees or a black studies program.
- Worked as a camera stand-in for Bill Cosby during the filming of
The Cosby Show.
- His character from Pulp Fiction, Jules Winnfield, ranked
second in the 'coolest movie characters of all time', in a poll by the
UK's Empire Magazine (the winner was Tyler Durden of
Fight Club).
- In 2003, he spoke out against rappers turned actors, saying that as a
classically trained thespian it was not his job to lend credibility to
rappers by appearing in movies with them. But in reality, he has worked
with more rappers than most actors in Hollywood, eleven times as of
this writing: Juice (Tupac Shakur and
Queen Latifah), Menace II Society
(MC Eiht), One Eight Seven(Method Man (I)),
Deep Blue Sea (LL Cool J), Shaft
(Busta Rhymes), S.W.A.T. (Eve (II) and
LL Cool J), xXx: State of the Union
(Ice Cube and Xzibit), Black Snake Moan
(David Banner (I)) and Home of the Brave
(50 Cent).
- His characters often feature the color purple: Mitch Hennessy wore a
purple-violet gem ring in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996), Mr. Glass
wore purple clothing in Unbreakable; Jackson chose to
have Doyle Gipson wear a purple hat in Changing Lanes;
Mace Windu, upon request by Jackson to George Lucas (I), wielded
a purple light saber in
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith; and
Lazarus, his character in Black Snake Moan, plays a
purple Gibson guitar.
- The commencement speaker at his daughter's graduation from Vassar
College (May 2004).
- Avid golfer.
- Was the first choice for "Fallon" in Judgment Night.
- He suffered from a stutter while growing up. A speech therapist
suggested he audition for a play and it might help his speech. It did
and he changed his major.
- One of the late bloomers of Hollywood, he was already 46 years old when
Pulp Fiction premiered and has acted in an average of 3-4
films a year since.
- Says that people who recognize him often mistake him for Laurence
Fishburne and vice versa.
- Hosted the 1998 MTV Movie Awards (1998) (TV).
- Was an usher at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral.
- His performance as "Jules Winnfield" in Pulp Fiction is
ranked #41 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time
(2006).
- Made Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2002 and 2003 with earnings of $34
million and $30 million respectively.
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
- Vegetarian.
- To date (2006), his films have grossed more money at the box office than
the work of any other actor in cinematic history.
- The success of The Incredibles enabled Jackson to surpass
Harrison Ford (I) as the actor whose movies have grossed the
most money in the world - in excess of $3 billion. (January 2005).
- Before super-stardom, he played a very minor role in
Goodfellas, starring Robert De Niro. After
super-stardom, he co-starred in Jackie Brown, this time
with Robert De Niro playing a supporting role.
- During filming of Black Snake Moan, grew close with
co-star Christina Ricci. The two remain good friends to this
day.
- Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995.
- His "Pulp Fiction" diner scene with Travolta, was re-enacted by Dark
Horse Comics' mid 2000 issue of "Star Wars Tales". In it, (with
modifications) his Mace Windu character talks about the Jedi Academy
and current Senate politics with Master Yoda, during a meal on
Coruscant.
- Gave his consent for Marvel Comics to design their "Ultimate" version of
the character Nick Fury after his likeness. He later went on to play
Nick Fury in Iron Man.
- In real life was once a NY highrise doorman, in "1408" (2007) was a NY
highrise manager.
- He participated in Model United Nations during his years in school.
- Lives in Beverly Hills, California.
- Has the rare distinction of having played characters that have been
eaten by both a shark and a dinosaur.
- He is an Anglophile, being fond of English culture and England in
general.
- Like Christopher Walken, he makes films for the pleasure he gets
out of acting, regardless of how the film turns out.
- While visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2003, he stayed at the
world-famous Copacabana Palace Hotel.
- Beverly Hills neighbors include, Denzel Washington,
Eddie Murphy (I), Sylvester Stallone,
Rod Stewart (I), Britney Spears, Mariah Carey,
Prince (I), David Beckham (I) and
Victoria Beckham, etc.
- Due to his prominent stature within the film industry, he is accorded a
clause in all his movie contracts that guarantees him easy access to
golf courses, no matter where the location shoot happens to be.
Samuel L. Jackson quotes
- [When asked about his character in
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace] "He's black."
- [On the subject of his character's inevitable death in
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith] "I don't
mind dying, I just don't wanna go out like some punk."
- People mistake me for Laurence Fishburne all the time. And he
always gets mistaken for me. (And why not? We've both starred in
Spike Lee movies, haven't we?) Even when we're standing
together, people have called him by my name and me by his. A woman
recently ran up to him and said, 'My daughter loved you in
Pulp Fiction! Could she have your autograph?' So he
signed it, 'Respectfully yours, Samuel Jackson.'
- To be frank, I am as passionate about golf as I am about acting. I very
seldom get angry at golf. The year I started golf I had a caddie and
one day I did get angry with myself and threw a club. My caddie told
me, 'You're not good enough to get mad'. I have never thrown a club
since. I enjoy my golf, it does not matter whether I play great or
badly. I let it go.
- I've played Loch Lomond - that's the one with the bogs isn't it? I
played the one with the lighthouse. When we were in Liverpool we used
to take the ferry and go to Northern Ireland. Films get in the way of
my golf, but they have afforded me the chance to play a lot of golf.
- On playing Othello - "I didn't realise how much I hated that play until
I agreed to do it. I don't mind Shakespeare so much, but I really hate
Othello. Here was a guy who had been all over the world, kicking ass,
looting, plundering and probably raping the baddest babes on the
planet. Then he falls in love with some teenager and loses his fucking
mind. I don't like that idea at all. I mean, how stupid was he?"
- People shout at me "Hey, loved that The Matrix, man!" Yeah
- me too. I was actually on a plane last year and this guy sat down
next to me. Finally he said something to me, and we started talking
about _Pulp Fiction (1994)_. He couldn't remember the actor's name, so
I tried to help and said "I think it might have been Samuel Jackson."
He jumped in "No, no, it's the other guy, that Fishburne guy". We rode
the whole flight having that coversation and then, right at the end, he
looked hard at me and said, "You sure look familiar, you're sure you're
not Laurence Fishburne?" I said "No, and I definitely am not in
Pulp Fiction either'."
- I think everyone who says they don't like watching themselves in movies
should stop lying.
- People like the Ezekiel speech. I have to say that speech about three
times a week to people, just to prove that I still know it.
- I was a square for so long and it totally amazes me that people think I
am cool.
- [On how his look was created in Pulp Fiction]
"Quentin Tarantino wanted Jules to have a big afro. He sent this
PA out to buy a wig. She went to South Central and bought this
jeri-curl wig. And Quentin was going off, saying, 'It's got to be an
afro because he had this whole blaxploitation thing'. I told him,
'That's the South Central look.' You look at Ice Cube and NWA. Guys had
all this shit dripping down their necks. I had already grown the
sideburns out and the mustache. It was perfect. Total Gangster."
- A movie is just a movie to me. They open, they close.
- I have a place that's pretty much cemented in Hollywood in terms of
liability, box-office viability and everything else. The only thing an
Oscar would do is jack my check up maybe $1 million.
- What kills me is that everybody thinks I like jazz.
- I can't say to myself, 'I haven't had a drink in 15 years, I could have
a glass of champagne and be OK'. That might be true, but history says
when I opened that bottle of champagne, I sat there and drank it until
it was gone. People who've been through what I went through are always
going to be tempted. I enjoyed drinking and I enjoyed taking drugs. But
I have to remind myself every day that I can't have a drink.
- I feel like I have a kinship to England. I go about three or four times
a year because you guys love me. Seriously, that's it right there. I
just need to feel that love every once in a while. I like England
because I can go anywhere on the tube and buses. So when I'm there I go
to all the places where I used to hang out.
- Hollywood people tend to think that because one is successful in one
aspect of entertainment they can bring them into this particular world
and make a success out of them. They ask people like me to be in a film
with those people that they are kind of headlining and your name ends
up behind them. If you do that, it sanctions the fact that these people
come into this world and you think they are worthy of you sharing your
time on screen with them. I don't particularly think that. A month or
so ago, someone called me about the 50 Cent movie and I'm like,
'What are you calling me for?'. I don't even need to read that because
that's not something I want to do. I like listening to 50 Cent
and I can groove to his music but I don't want to groove to him on
screen, just yet. Maybe if he does five movies and he shows some
talent. I mean how does he get to work with Jim Sheridan (I) and
I don't. What is it about 50 Cent that makes
Jim Sheridan (I) say, 'I'd really like to make a movie with
him.'?
- Definitely. And I always do - I love me on-screen! (On if he watches his
own films)