LeVar Burton Gets Emotional After Learning This Surprise About His Past

From his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the 1977 ABC miniseries Roots to Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” LeVar Burton has made a career of bringing iconic roles to life on the screen. But the actor and producer is equally well known for being a tireless advocate for education.

From 1983 to 2006, Burton served as host and executive producer of the popular PBS series “Reading Rainbow,” a show centered around encouraging a love of reading in children. Most recently, he’s been speaking out against conservatives’ increased efforts to ban books across the country and highlighting our country’s literary crisis with his documentary “The Right to Read.”

Now, in the latest episode of PBS’ “Finding Your Roots,” Burton learns that his passion for education is literally in his blood when host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. tells him that his grandfather and great-grandfather both worked in education as school superintendents.

“It fills me with great pride that I have inherited this mantle of educator,” an emotional Burton told Gates in the episode, which premieres Jan. 16. “That’s very cool.”

Since 2012, Gates has helped some of the biggest stars explore the mysteries of their pasts on “Finding Your Roots.” As Kimberly Morgan, one of the show’s genealogists, told us in a February 2023 interview, researchers spend an average of 200 to 300 hours per guest pouring through census data, marriage records and other documents, looking for information about their ancestors. The stars’ reactions to their findings, she said, makes all of the work worth it.

Season 10 kicked off with a big surprise for R&B singer Ciara, who learned that she shares DNA with former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. The rest of the season is stacked with serious star power, including actor/comedian Tracy Morgan, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin and singer Dionne Warwick.