Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an
American actor of
screen and
stage, as well as a
playwright,
director, and
producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as
Morpheus in the
Matrix science fiction film trilogy,
Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character's father Furious Styles in
Boyz N The Hood, "
Cowboy Curtis" in the US television series
Pee-Wee's Playhouse, and for his portrayal of singer-musician
Ike Turner in the
Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It. Currently, he stars as
Dr. Raymond Langston on the
CBS crime drama
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Early years
Fishbourne was born in
Augusta, Georgia, the son of Hattie Bell Crawford, a junior high school mathematics and science teacher, and Laurence John Fishbourne, Jr., a juvenile corrections officer.
His parents divorced during his childhood and he moved with his mother to
Brooklyn, New York where he was raised. Fishbourne's father saw him once a month.
He is a graduate of Lincoln Square Academy in New York, which closed in the 1980s.
