December 21: Happy Birthday Samuel L. Jackson

https://lebeauleblog.com/2016/12/21/december-21-happy-birthday-jane-fonda-and-samuel-l-jackson/

Our other headliner, as many of you probably know, once starred in a movie with Jane Fonda’s niece. Samuel L. Jackson, who is 68 today, began acting after he graduated from Morehouse College. He worked in theater for nearly two decades (and battled substance abuse problems for several years) before coming to the attention of director Spike Lee. Jackson had small roles in some of Lee’s films such as School Daze and Do the Right Thing, and he also had a small part in Goodfellas.

Jackson began to break out as an actor in Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever, winning some positive critical attention for a larger role. A supporting part in Jurassic Park increased his mainstream profile, and then he began working with Quentin Tarantino, starring first in Pulp Fiction (which brought Jackson his only Oscar nomination) and then in an Elmore Leonard adaptation:
https://youtu.be/Gr6eFXNq5Wc

Jackson has had an incredibly busy film career in the last two decades; he sometimes makes as many as 6-7 films a year. A few highlights: playing Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequels, and Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rejoining Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, playing the title role in John Singleton’s Shaft, donning a kilt for The 51st State (also called Formula 51), and voicing Frozone in The Incredibles.