Samuel L. Jackson is 70!
Today, his 70th birthday is celebrated by the charismatic Hollywood actor, winner of the Silver Bear, laureate of the Cannes Film Festival, four-time nominee for the Golden Globe, Oscar nominee with over 150 films behind him - Samuel Leroy Jackson .Samuel was born in 1948 in Washington, and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He practically did not know his father, who left the family and died early from alcoholism. His mother, a factory worker, as well as numerous grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles were involved in his upbringing. As a child, the future actor stuttered, but, according to him, he learned to “pretend to be other people who have no speech impairments”. He attended several segregated schools and played the French horn in the school orchestra. Entering college in Atlanta, Sam dreamed of a career as a marine biologist, but fate had other plans for him.  Jackson supported the Black Forces movement. With several students, he went on strike, demanding a change in the institution's policy. They were outraged that the college administration was almost entirely white. For two days, the rioters kept the top members of the educational institution on campus. Ultimately, the leadership agreed to the demands of the strikers, but the future artist was accused of illegally depriving a person of his freedom and suspended for two years. Sam stayed in Atlanta and continued to hang out with local followers of the movement. But before he had time to participate in an armed confrontation, his mother sent him to Los Angeles, because she received a warning from the FBI, from which it followed, that if her son took part in the protests, he would die within a year. In the city of angels, he got a job as a social worker. Returning to college, Jackson decided to study architecture, and when he joined a local acting class to earn extra points, he became interested in the craft and changed his profile to drama. In 1972 he made his debut in the film Together Forever.Later, Samuel moved to New York, played in various plays, but by 1976 he was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. In an interview, the actor spoke about his cheerful youth: “Those were the times. I worked in the theater. He considered himself Oliver Reed. I drank and used. I liked not being aware of what was happening around”. So five years passed, then he met Spike Lee, and he invited him to star in School Amazement, Do It Right, and Blues about Better Life.  After several heroin overdoses, Jackson switched to lighter substances. One day his wife and daughter found him passed out on the kitchen floor. “I think I wanted to be caught. Went to a party, swelled with tequila and decided to catch up with cocaine. I came home, made a track. When I looked up, I saw that Zoya and LaTanya were standing over me. I never sniffed that track. " Then the family sent him to a rehabilitation center. Ironically, filming for Jungle Fever, where he played a drug addict, began just a week after his release from rehab. The film received such acclaim that the Cannes Film Festival jury instituted a Best Supporting Actor award specifically for Jackson. However, the real fame came to the actor after meeting Quentin Tarantino. Noticing him in "True Love", the director invited Samuel to play the legendary Jules in the cult "Pulp Fiction", whose role the director wrote especially for him. So, his thirty-second appearance on the big screens, for which he received nominations for "Oscar" and "Golden Globe", made the actor world famous.  After the resounding success, Samuel was constantly offered similar roles. However, having starred in several unsuccessful films like Kiss of Death and The Big White Deception, the actor moved away from the role of a tough bandit and instead appeared in a completely new character in the drama Time to Kill. Hollywood critics praised the artist's talented reincarnation and nominated him for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor. As Jackson also found recognition among the public, producers began to invite him to expensive projects. Quickly becoming a box office star, Jackson reunited with Tarantino and starred in the drama Jackie Brown, for which he received the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and his fourth Golden Globe nomination. Enrolled in Quentin's list of regular actors, in the future Samuel will act as a narrator in Inglourious Basterds, an episode in Kill Bill 2, and will also appear in the juicy images of the sycophant butler from Django Unchained and the inveterate bounty hunter from The Hateful 8 ".  In the late 90s, Jackson portrayed Jedi Master Mace Windu in the first episode of Star Wars. He later admitted that he had not even read the script of the film and found out about his character when trying on a suit. According to the actor, he didn't care who to play, as his dream was just to be in a sci-fi franchise. In 2002, Samuel authorized Marvel Comics to use his appearance to design the character of Nick Fury, and in 2008 made his first appearance as the director of SHIELD in the post-credits scene of Iron Man. The actor has become an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing every now and then in superhero solo films.  Despite his venerable but far from critical 70 years, Samuel L. Jackson remains one of the most sought-after Hollywood actors to this day. Very soon, next month, he can be seen in the final part of the acclaimed trilogy by M. Night Shyamalan. And next year for Jackson is also scheduled by the minute: he is involved in the remake of "Shaft", and will also return to the image of Nick Fury in "Captain Marvel" and the sequel to "Spider-Man". This is what I would like to wish the birthday man - to stay in the saddle and delight fans with apt acting work for many more years! The Topic of Article: Samuel L. Jackson is 70!. |
