Samuel Leroy Jackson was born December 21, 1948, in Washington D.C. but was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee by his maternal grandmother. As a child, Jackson was affected by the censorship in the South with regard to the portrayal of blacks in film.

When he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1967, he took an interest in the black power movement and began to get involved in political activity on campus. During his junior year, he was reprimanded with expulsion after he protested the lack of black representation on the board of trustees by locking several board members in a building. Although his academic path was in architecture, Jackson returned after a two-year absence at Morehouse to complete his degree in drama in 1972.

Jackson met his wife, LaTanya Richardson, while she attended Spellman College, sister school to Morehouse. A drama student as well, she toured the country with Jackson after graduation, performing in the Black Image Theatre. In 1981, while still performing on stage, Jackson met fellow actor Morgan Freemanand a New York University film student named Spike Lee. As a result of the influence of the two, Jackson became convinced that he could become successful.

He would go on to take roles in four Lee films: School Days, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and a defining one in Jungle Fever as a crack addict, for which he was recognized at the Cannes Film Festival with a Best Supporting Actor award created in honor of the performance. Of more importance was the fact that the role served as a catharsis for Jackson, cementing his own personal liberation from alcohol and drug addiction.

For a time, it seemed as if Jackson was destined to become the most recognized character actor in Hollywood, with small roles in films like Juice, True Romance, Menace II Society, and Patriot Games. But then in 1994, a young, brash director named Quentin Tarantinocast Jackson as Jules, a callous, superstitious assassin, in 1994's Pulp Fiction. The film was an instant cult classic and the character of Jules became a favorite, with devoted fans committing his fiery speeches to memory. To his credit, Jackson received an Academy Award nomination for the performance and his career took off thereafter.

With scripts flooding in as never before, Jackson went on to make A Time to Kill, the adaptation of the John Grisham novel, for which he received universal praise. Other films included The Long Kiss Goodnight, opposite Geena Davis, Deep Blue Sea, The Negotiator, Unbreakable, and Shaft, co-starring the beautiful Vanessa Williams Despite his reputation as a Hollywood workhorse, Jackson has made time for stage work and independent films in order to stay close to his acting roots.

Jackson can add Changing Lanes to his resume, as well as the upcoming XXX, No Good Deed and Basic. He is also part of film history thanks to his role as Jedi Mace Windu in the Star Wars franchise, in Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the third prequel of the sci-fi classic.

Jackson is also a rarity in Hollywood, being married to his wife since 1980. The couple have a daughter, Zoe Jackson.