Samuel L. Jackson

Daughter - Zo Jackson (b. 1982).

Grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

One of Jacksons 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 & Andrew .

(October 1997) Ranked #44 in Empire magazines "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 television show "TFI Friday" that he would really like to work with George Lucas.

(January 2002) Daughter Zo Jackson 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 Reverend 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 UKs 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 ), Deep Blue Sea (LL Cool J ), Shaft (Busta Rhymes ), S.W.A.T. (Eve and LL Cool J ), xXx: State of the Union (Ice Cube and Xzibit ), Black Snake Moan (David Banner ) and Home of the Brave .

His characters often feature the color purple: Mitch Hennessy wore a purple-violet gem ring in The Long Kiss Goodnight , 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 , wielded a purple lightsaber 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 daughter Zo Jackson s graduation from Vassar College (May 2004).

Is an 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 .

Was an usher at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s funeral.

His performance as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction is ranked #41 on Premiere Magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time .

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.

Is a vegetarian.

To date , 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 as the actor whose movies have grossed the most money in the world - in excess of $3 billion. (January 2005). Though in 2016, Ford re-surpassed him due to the massive success of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens .

Before superstardom, he played a very minor role in Goodfellas , starring Robert De Niro. After superstardom, 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 John 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, he was once a New York high-rise doorman, in 1408 , he was a New York high-rise 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.

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 , Sylvester Stallone , Rod Stewart , Britney Spears , Mariah Carey , Prince , David Beckham 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.

Is a fan of the Atlanta Falcons football club. He appears in their "Rise Up" campaign.

The Jury of the Cannes Film Festival were so impressed with his performance as Gator in Jungle Fever , that they decided to recreate the rare Best Supporting Actor category in that year, honoring him with the award. To date , hes one of the few actors to receive the honor along with Jack Thompson for his performance in Breaker Morant and Ian Holm for his role in Chariots of Fire .

Auditioned for a role in Mississippi Burning , but director Alan Parker told him he did not sound Southern, even though he was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Growing up, his idol was Errol Flynn and dreamed about being a movie swashbuckler someday.

Son of Elizabeth Jackson.

In a 2012 interview with "Nuts" magazine, he cites The Long Kiss Goodnight as a favorite film.

The Guinness World Records named Samuel L. Jackson as the highest-grossing film actor of all time, taking in more than $7.4 billion at the box-office. The residuals alone earn him about $300,000 a year.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 16, 2000.

He originally intended to become a marine biologist before discovering acting in college.

Although he had been acting in small roles and in theatre productions, it was not until he was 40 years old that he received his first major role in Do the Right Thing and he was 45 when he became a star with Pulp Fiction .

Has appeared in four films with Bruce Willis : Loaded Weapon 1 , Pulp Fiction , Die Hard with a Vengeance and Unbreakable .

Has appeared with Brad Dourif in four films: Ragtime , The Exorcist III , Jungle Fever and Amos & Andrew .

He has made four films with Natalie Portman : Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace , Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones , Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Thor .

Selected Whats New Pussycat for the AFIs book, "Private Screenings", as the movie that influenced him most.

Considers himself a close friend and admirer of British actor Michael Caine. The two have collaborated together on a couple of projects, including A Shock to the System and Kingsman: The Secret Service .

Highest grossing Black actor of all time, with over $4.6 billion brought to the box office.

Is great friends with British actor Simon Pegg.

Has appeared in a movie with each of the men that played Batman on the big screen. He appeared in Jackie Brown , Out of Sight , The Other Guys , and RoboCop with Michael Keaton. He was in True Romance with Val Kilmer. In Shaft , he shared the screen with Christian Bale. He was in Changing Lanes with Ben Affleck and he even appeared in The New Age with Adam West.

In Coming to America he portrays a robber knocking off a restaurant (McDowells) and calls one of the employees (Louie Anderson ) "fatboy". In Pulp Fiction he calls a restaurant employee "fatman" while its being robbed.

Is an avid Liverpool FC supporter and fan after his work in the city on 51st State (Formula 51) and often tweets on twitter when they win a game with simply Liverpoooool.

Ranked 2nd highest grossing actor of all time with all his previous films grossing a total of $ 4.6 billion.[February 2016].

A fan of Judge Judy.

As opposed to other actors and actresses he enjoys watching his own movies.

Friends with Denzel Washington , Magic Johnson , and Alan Alda.

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.

What kills me is that everybody thinks I like jazz.

Not everybody goes to movies to get their life changed.

I look at myself as an audience member. I still love movies, and I still go and sit in the back of the big dark room with everybody else, and I want the same thrill.

I tend to play characters that I can infuse with certain kinds of humour. Even the baddest guy can be funny in his own particular way. I want the audience to engage with the character on some deeper level so that they leave the cinema still thinking about him.