American actor, director and television host who played Geordi La Forge, the Enterprise-D's chief engineer, and directed episodes of four Star Trek series.
LeVar Burton, an American actor born in 1957, played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. La Forge began as the Enterprise-D's helm officer and became its chief engineer from the second season, and his VISOR, which let the blind officer perceive the electromagnetic spectrum, became one of the series' signature design elements.
Burton reprised the role in all four Next Generation films, from Star Trek Generations to Star Trek: Nemesis, and returned for the third season of Star Trek: Picard. He also stepped behind the camera, directing the Next Generation episodes Second Chances and Timescape and going on to direct episodes of Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.
Before joining Star Trek he had already become famous as Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots, and he hosted the PBS children's series Reading Rainbow for more than two decades.