LeVar Burton is an American actor, director, and author best known for his role as Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. He also starred in the long-running PBS children's series Reading Rainbow, for which he won a Peabody Award and several Daytime Emmy Awards. Burton has also directed several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, for which he won two Emmy Awards.