ACTOR · BORN 1948
Samuel L. Jackson
- Born
- 21 December 1948, Washington, D.C., USA
- Known for
- Jurassic Park (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Django Unchained (2012), The Incredibles (2004)
42 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Samuel L. Jackson (born 21 December 1948) is an actor best known for Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.
Samuel L. Jackson over the years
42 Interesting Facts About Samuel L. Jackson
Interesting Facts (5)
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He says that people who recognize him often mistake him for Laurence Fishburne and vice versa.
Samuel L. Jackson: a sceneImage: Wikimedia Commons · Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #003
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Production Story (4)
Characters & Cast (2)
- #010
His characters often feature the color purple: Mitch Hennessy wore a purple-violet gem ring in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Mr. Glass wore purple clothing in Unbreakable (2000); Jackson chose to have Doyle Gipson wear a purple hat in Changing Lanes (2002); Mace Windu, upon Jackson's request to George Lucas, wielded a purple lightsaber in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005); and Lazarus, his character in Black Snake Moan (2006), plays a purple Gibson guitar.
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Easter Eggs & References (2)
Career & Awards (11)
- #014
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 (1992) (Tupac Shakur and Queen Latifah), Menace II Society (1993) (MC Eiht), One Eight Seven (1997) (Method Man), Deep Blue Sea (1999) (LL Cool J), Shaft (2000) (Busta Rhymes), S.W.A.T. (2003) (Eve and LL Cool J), xXx: State of the Union (2005) (Ice Cube and Xzibit), Black Snake Moan (2006) (David Banner) and Home of the Brave (2006) (50 Cent).
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Since 1987 with his third film, Magic Sticks (1987), until today, he has appeared in at least one movie every year (usually several films every year), but at the beginning of his career there were 9 years of difference between his first and his second movie, Together for Days (1972) and Ragtime (1981), and 6 years of difference between his second and his third.
- #017
He has appeared in a movie with each of the men who have played Batman on the big screen. He appeared in Jackie Brown (1997), Out of Sight (1998), The Other Guys (2010) and RoboCop (2014) with Michael Keaton. He was in True Romance (1993) with Val Kilmer. In Shaft (2000), he shared the screen with Christian Bale. He was in Changing Lanes (2002) with Ben Affleck, and he even appeared in The New Age (1994) with Adam West.
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The jury of the Cannes Film Festival was so impressed with his performance as Gator in Jungle Fever (1991) that they decided to recreate the rare Best Supporting Actor category that year and honored him with the award. As of 2016, he is one of the few actors to receive the honor, along with Jack Thompson for his performance in Breaker Morant (1980) and Ian Holm for his role in Chariots of Fire (1981).
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- #024
Since 1987 with his third film, Magic Sticks (1987), until today, he has appeared in at least a movie every year (usually several films every year), but at the beginning of his career there were 9 years of difference between his first and his second movie, Together for Days (1972) and Ragtime (1981), and 6 years of difference between his second and his third.
Life & Family (18)
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Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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