Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson was born December 21, 1948, and spent the early 1980s in New York theater, originating roles in A Soldier's Play and later August Wilson's The Piano Lesson at Yale Rep in 1987. Early collaborations with Spike Lee - School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever - gave him momentum, but it was Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction that cracked him open: a BAFTA win, an Oscar nomination, and a new center of gravity in American film. From there he became both ubiquitous and essential, anchoring franchises as Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequels and Nick Fury across eleven MCU films, while continuing to work with Tarantino in Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight. In 2022 the Academy gave him an Honorary Oscar, calling him "a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations." He returned to Broadway that same year in The Piano Lesson revival, earning a Tony nomination at 74.