Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson: biography

Samuel L. Jackson is the Hollywood actor who starred in Quentin Tarantino’s movies (“Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill: Volume 2,” “Django Unchained,” “The Hateful Eight). He won the BAFTA, Palme d'Or, and Silver Bear awards and was nominated for the Academy Award.

Samuel was born on December 21, 1948, in Washington, DC. The boy lived with his mother and grandfather while his father went to Kansas. In the course of time, the whole family moved to Chattanooga where Samuel spent his childhood.

Samuel was good at school. The boy also got interested in music and played the French horn at the school orchestra. As a teenager, he decided to become an architect and applied to Atlanta College, Faculty of Architecture, but soon transferred to Drama Faculty of the same college. Samuel L. Jackson founded an amateur theater whose trope mainly consisted of black students.

The young man’s mother and grandfather did not believe in Samuel’s acting talent and doubted his choice of career was right. However, things changed when Jackson appeared before the camera in the hamburger advertisement. He was eating the fast-food so appetizingly that the audience would never have thought he was insincere. Thus, the student earned his first money.

As a student, the young man often had to face racial discrimination. The social injustice made him a passionate proponent of black people’s rights. At 20, Samuel L. Jackson and his companions took part in the meeting after Martin Luther had been assassinated. For this, the young man was expelled from the college for two years, and it took him great pains to get readmitted. In 1972, Jackson got his Bachelor of Arts diploma and moved to New York where there were more opportunities for beginning actors.

Movies

Samuel L. Jackson debuted in the movie “Together For Days”; the drama “Ragtime” followed soon. The first roles did not bring any success, on the contrary: directors forgot about the actor for the next 10 years. At this period, Jackson worked at the theater.

In 1985, the actor was approved to the role in the series “Spenser: For Hire.” Two years later, Samuel played Eddie’s uncle in the comedy “Eddie Murphy Raw.” In 1990, Jackson was offered a small role in the crime drama “The Nice Guys.”

Samuel L. Jackson could have played much more roles at this time, yet his drinking and drug issues deprived him of this chance. The preparation for the musical “Two Trains Running” was the turning point: Jackson was to play the leading part, but the director found another actor. Samuel decided to undertake a rehabilitation course in order to get rid of his dependence.

After the treatment, Samuel was offered the role of a drug abuser in the movie “Jungle Fever.” This project was a considerable milestone in the actor’s career. In fact, he was playing himself. The character turned out to be powerful, and the actor won the Palme d'Or Award for this work.

In 1993, he starred in the movie “Loaded Weapon” and the famous director Steven Spielberg’s movie “Jurassic Park.”

The movie “Pulp Fiction” became the actor’s triumph. Jackson played Jules Winnfield; John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman also starred in the project. In 1994, the actor was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe and received BAFTA. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson won the fame, and numerous directors’ offers followed. Next year, the actor starred in the movie “Die Hard with a Vengeance”; one year later, he appeared in the detective movie “A Time to Kill” and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award again.

1997 was fruitful for the actor as three movies were released: “187,” “Eve's Bayou,” and “Jackie Brown.” For the latter work, Samuel won the Silver Bear in Berlin and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the fourth time. At the turn of the century, George Lucas’s “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” came out; Samuel got the major role of Mace Windu, Master of the Jedi High Council. The audience excitedly welcomed the new movie. The first year of the rollout brought $1 billion.

The more the actor’s popularity was growing, the more his earnings were increasing. Jackson was paid $5 million for the movie “The Negotiator,” $7 million for the detective “Unbreakable,” and $10 million for the leading part in the thriller “Shaft.”

In summer 2000, Samuel L. Jackson got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The new century brought new roles. Jackson starred in the movies “The Fight Rules,” “Unbreakable,” and “The 51st State.” In 2002, the actor delighted his fans with the main role in the crime action movie “xXx” by Rob Cohen where Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, and Marton Csokas also took part. Later on, the actor played Agent Augustus Gibbons in the second and third parts of the franchise.

In 2004, Quentin Tarantino invited the actor to his new project “Kill Bill: Volume 2” to play the organ player Rufus. As Tarantino stated, this work was the best project in his filmography.

In 2008, Frank Miller started working on the new noir action movie “The Spirit” starring Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson, and Eva Mendes. Samuel L. Jackson played the main villain the Octopus.

In 2010, the actor signed the contract according to which he would star in 9 movies as Nick Fury. Four movies have been released.

Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” was another significant work by Jackson in 2012. The actor played the butler Stephen. Three years later, Samuel appeared in a new western blockbuster “The Hateful Eight.” At this period, he also played the eccentric billionaire Richmond Valentine in the comedy action movie “Kingsman: The Secret Service” by Matthew Vaughn.

Before that, the actor was invited to the adventure movie “Big Game” created by Finnish, German, and English moviemakers. Samuel could not refuse the project – he was to play the US President. Jackson also got the leading part in the crime thriller “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” where Dominic Cooper was his stage partner.

Personal life

Samuel is a one-person lover: he met his would-be wife LaTanya Richardson at the college. In 1980, the lovers married; their daughter Zoe was born two years later. The happy family live in Los Angeles.

Samuel L. Jackson is fond of football and supports Liverpool football club. Sometimes the actor plays football himself. His daughter inherited his sports interest: Zoe is the producer of the sports channel.

The actor collects hats: there are several hundreds of them in his collection now. Amuel and his wife do the charity work and support education.

Present days

In 2017, Jackson had another comedy role in the movie “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” where Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung, and Gary Oldman also starred. In the same year, Samuel played Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard in the movie about a big gorilla’s adventures – “Kong: Skull Island.”

Nowadays, the actor continues to star in the movies whose premieres are scheduled for two years ahead. The actor’s upcoming works include the movies “Captain Marvel,” “Life Itself,” “Inversion,” and others.

In August 2017, Samuel L. Jackson and his friend Magic Johnson ended up in the gossip column. The Americans went to Italy for vacation and had a rest in the street in Rome, but local people believed they were refugees. On her Facebook page, the Italian model Nina Morić posted the photo of Jackson and Johnson and appealed to the country’s authorities to stop providing outsiders with unemployment insurance. Soon, people who recognized the star tourists started commenting. The famous photo appeared on many Instagram users’ pages: people marked the funny side of the situation.

Filmography

• 1981 – “Ragtime”
• 1991 – “Jungle Fever”
• 1993 – “Jurassic Park”
• 1994 – “Pulp Fiction”
• 1997 – “Jackie Brown”
• 1999 – “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”
• 2000 – “Shaft”
• 2004 – “Kill Bill: Volume 2”
• 2008 – “The Spirit”
• 2012 – “Django Unchained”
• 2014 – “Big Game”
• 2015 – “Kingsman: The Secret Service”
• 2015 – “The Hateful Eight”
• 2017 – “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”

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