| First part was in second grade playing Peter Pan |
| Raised by mother in Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York |
1971 | Professional stage debut as a young baseball fan in Charles Fuller's "My Many Names and Faces" at NYC's New Federal Theatre |
1973 | Appeared regularly on "One Life to Live" (ABC) as Joshua West Hall, the adopted son of a police captain |
1975 | Film debut in starring role in "Cornbread, Earl and Me" |
1975 | Played Tony Pridgeon in "Section D" at the New Federal Theatre |
1976 | Co-starred Off-Broadway in the Negro Ensemble Company production of "Eden" |
1977 | Went to the Philippines for 18 months to shoot "Apocalypse Now" (1979) under Francis Ford Coppola's direction; credited in the film as Larry Fishburne |
1979 | Credited as Laurence Fishburne III for "Fast Break" |
1980 | TV series debut, "The Six O'Clock Follies" (NBC) |
1983 | Reteamed with Coppola for "Rumble Fish" |
1984 | Third film with Coppola, "The Cotton Club"; for his role as the fictional Bumpy Rhodes, he researched the real Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson, whom he would later portray in "Hoodlum" (1997) |
1985 | Cast as Swain in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" |
1986 | Had continuing role as Cowboy Curtis on "Pee-wee's Playhouse" (CBS); met a young production assistant named John Singleton, who would later direct him in his breakthrough role "Boyz N the Hood" (1991) |
1987 | Fourth film with Coppola, "Gardens of Stone" |
1988 | Acted in Spike Lee's "School Daze" |
1990 | Provided some of the muscle for Christopher Walken's drug operation in Abel Ferrara's "King of New York" |
1991 | Won acclaim for his lead performance as the father in "Boyz N the Hood"; directed by John Singleton |
1992 | Co-starred as an ex-con romancing a waitress in August Wilson's stage drama "Two Trains Running"; play first produced at Yale Rep before moving to Broadway; received Tony Award |
1993 | Earned an Emmy Award as Best Guest Actor for his turn in the pilot episode of "TriBeCa" (Fox) |
1993 | Played Ike Turner to Angela Bassett's Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do with It"; received Best Actor Oscar nomination |
1993 | Portrayed the Washington Square Park mentor of a young chess prodigy in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" |
1994 | Formed Loa Productions, an independent production company |
1995 | Became first black actor to portray Shakespeare's "Othello" in major studio feature |
1995 | Played Hannibal 'Iowa' Lee in the acclaimed HBO movie, "The Tuskegee Airmen"; earned an Emmy nomination |
1995 | Reteamed with Singleton for "Higher Learning" |
1995 | Wrote, directed and starred in the Off-Broadway - one-act play, "Riff Raff" |
1997 | Executive produced (also starred) the acclaimed HBO movie "Miss Evers' Boys"; received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries |
1997 | Reteamed with Bill Duke as star of "Hoodlum" playing Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson, a 1930s Harlem racketeer who locked horns with Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) and Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia); also executive produced |
1998 | Executive produced and starred as Socrates Fortlow in HBO's "Always Outnumbered" |
1999 | Portrayed the mysterious Morpheus in the blockbusting "The Matrix" |
1999 | Starred as Henry II in a Broadway revival of James Goldman's "The Lion in Winter" at NYC's Roundabout Theatre |
2000 | Made his feature directorial debut with "Once in the Life" the film version of his play "Riff Raff" |
2003 | Again portrayed Morpheus in "The Matrix: Revolutions" |
2003 | Played a cop opposite Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn in "Mystic River"; directed by Clint Eastwood |
2003 | Reprised Morpheus in "The Matrix: Reloaded" |
2005 | Starred with Ethan Hawke and Maria Bello in "Assault on Precinct 13" |
2006 | Cast in Emilio Estevez's directorial debut, "Bobby" |
2006 | Played Cruise's mentor in "Mission: Impossible III" directed by J.J. Abrams |
2008 | Cast as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the Broadway production of "Thurgood" at the Booth Theatre; earned a Tony award nomination for Best Actor in a Play |
2008 | Played a casino security agent in "21" a film based on a group of MIT card counters |
2008 | Replaced departing series star William Petersen on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS) as a college lecturer and former pathologist |
2010 | Appeared in "Predators," a sequel to cult favorites "Predator" (1987) and "Predator 2" (1990) about an elite group of warriors hunted by a merciless alien race |
2011 | Joined an ensemble cast for Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie |
2011 | Reprised role of Thurgood Marshall in the HBO adaptation of "Thurgood" |
