18 Facts About LeVar Burton, Our Childhood Hero

We would love to audition for the position of Hype Man for LeVar Burton ... not that he needs it. He has been the cornerstone of not one, not two, but three cultural landmarks: The Roots mini-series, Star Trek: Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow. He could have retired at age 19, knowing that he was the lead in a mini-series that changed the conversation around racism in America, but he went on to star in Star Trek, inspiring even more people through his representation of a Black disabled character. Perhaps most famously, Burton read to generations of children in the unlikely format of television through Reading Rainbow. If you can't sing the theme song, then honestly you had too many cable channels growing up.

Here are 18 more facts about the icon, the legend, that is LeVar Burton.