Gregory Peck Award For Cinematic Excellence

Laurence J. Fishburne III has achieved an impressive body of work as an actor, producer and director. He starred in his first television show at age ten in the drama One Life to Live, and made his feature film debut at age twelve in Cornbread, Earl and Me. At fifteen, Laurence appeared in Apocalypse Now, the first of many cult classics destined to define his long career.  

Fishburne’s versatile acting has won him awards in theatre, film and television. In 1992, Fishburne won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Sterling Johnson in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running. He won his first Emmy Award in 1993 for “The Box” episode of Tribeca, and his second for his one-man show, Thurgood, in 1997. In 1993, Laurence also received an Best Actor Oscar nomination for the Tina Turner biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It. He was an Emmy Award nominee and an NAACP Image Award winner for his starring role in the 1997 telefilm Miss Evers’ Boys, which he also executive-produced. Laurence has been nominated 23 times for NAACP Image awards, with five wins – most recently in 2017 for his role in ABC’s black-ish.  

Laurence may be best known for his role as Morpheus in the Wachowksi brothers’ blockbuster The Matrix trilogy, but his many film credits include: Academy Award nominee John Singleton’s Boyz ‘n the Hood, Richard T. Heffron’s telefilm A Rumor of War, Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple, the Steven Zaillian’s Searching for Bobby Fischer, Mr. Singleton’s Higher Learning, Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River and cult classics, Deep Cover and King of New York.  

In 2000, Fishburne founded Cinema Gypsy Productions with his longtime manager and producing partner, Helen Sugland. They have produced numerous nominated and award-winning projects including: Thurgood (HBO), Five Fingers (Lionsgate), Akeelah and the Bee (Lionsgate), Once in the Life (Lionsgate), Always Out Numbered (HBO), Hoodlum (United Artists), and Miss Evers Boys (HBO). Currently, they produce the ABC-TV hit series black-ish where Mr. Fishburne stars alongside Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Black-ish received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series. The show was also nominated in 2017 and 2018 for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.  

In 2016, Fishburne starred in Warner Bros.’ blockbuster Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and A&E’s miniseries remake of Roots, alongside Forest Whitaker and Anna Paquin. The Roots remake premiered with universal acclaim, and Fishburne received a 2016 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Narrator as Alex Haley. Fishburne also appeared in Passengers alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt which was released December 2016.  

Laurence’s recent releases include: Bronzeville, a 10-episode audio drama written by A History Of Violence scribe Josh Olson and produced with Larenz Tate’s company TateMan Entertainment and Audio HQ; and Madiba, a 2017 miniseries for BET Networks where Laurence portrayed Nelson Mandela in a drama about the politician’s life. In 2017, he appeared in Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying in which he starred with Steve Carell and Bryan Cranston. In 2018, he was seen in Marvel’s Ant Man and The Wasp and most recently he reprised his role as the Bowery in John Wick 3 in May of 2019. Fishburne will next be seen in Annapurna’s highly anticipated adapatation of Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Cinema Gypsy Productions are also producing an adaptation of The Alchemist at TriStar with Kevin Frakes of Palm Star Media.  

Fishburne has served as an Ambassador for UNICEF since 1996. In 2007, he was honored by Harvard University as Artist of the Year for his Outstanding Contributions to American and International Performing Arts as well as his humanitarian contributions.