Samuel L. Jackson's life perfectly epitomizes the 'rags to riches' story. The American actor and film producer has defied all obstacles thrown his way to becoming one of the most celebrated actors in Hollywood. The actor best known for his role as the Jedi Master, Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy is a prolific actor who has appeared in more than 100 films.

The actor achieved prominence and won critical acclaim in the early 90's with his roles in Amos and Andrew (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), Patriot Games (1992) and Jungle Fever (1991). The stalwart actor's collaboration with the noted director Quentin Tarantino resulted in some of the most popular and critically acclaimed movies like Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997) and Django Unchained (2012). Apart from appearing on the big screen, Jackson has also appeared in several TV shows and music videos and lent his voice to video games, and audio-books.

Early Life
Samuel L. Jackson, the son of Elizabeth and Roy Henry Jackson was born in Washington D.C and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Born on December 21, 1948, Jackson was raised by his mother and throughout his life, he met his father only twice. Throughout his childhood, Jackson lived in poverty and he was even subject to racial abuse. His mother worked as a factory worker and later she worked in a mental institution as a supplies buyer.

The actor went to different schools and later he graduated from Riverside High School in Chattanooga. During his childhood, Jackson had a stuttering problem. To overcome his problem, Jackson used to pretend to be the person who did not stutter and before he began talking he used a curse word. He uses the curse word even today on days he stutters.

The actor initially aspired to pursue a degree in Marine biology and he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. However, when he joined a local acting group he got interested in acting and later switched his majors to acting.

Personal Life
Jackson is married to sports channel producer, LaTanya Richardson. The duo met while Jackson was attending Morehouse College and tied the knot in 1980. The couple has a daughter named Zoe who was born in 1982

Acting Career
Jackon began his acting career by appearing in various dramas and plays. After his initial roles in Television films, he made his feature film debut in an independent film, Together for Days. After his initial roles went unnoticed he moved from Atlanta to New York City in 1976 and he spent his next few years appearing in stage plays such as Two Trains Running and The Piano Lesson, both of which appeared at the Yale Repertory Theater.

While he was doing the plays, Jackson got addicted to alcohol and cocaine, which forced him to discontinue from the play. Later, when he appeared in the 1981 play, A Soldier's Play, Jackson was introduced to director Spike Lee who later cast him in various small roles in films like Do the Right Thing and School Daze. In 1990, the actor appeared in a cameo in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, the movie was a huge hit and later it achieved a cult status but Jackon's role went unnoticed.

During the 1990's Jackson's drug addiction worsened and after he completed his rehab program at New York rehab clinic, he essayed the role of a crack cocaine addict in Jungle Fever. The film was such a big hit that a special 'Supporting Actor' award was created just for him at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. After the success of this role, Jackson then worked with director Steven Spielberg in the 1993 fantasy-science fiction movie, Jurassic Park, which was a landmark movie in terms of using animation in the movie.

Jackson continued his good run with yet another smashing hit, Pulp Fiction. The movie directed by Quentin Tarantino got Jackson international recognition and he won great critical acclaim. For his performance in the movie, the actor received won nominations for the best supporting role at the Golden Globe Awards as well as at the BAFTA Award. After the success of Pulp Fiction, Jackson appeared in three poor-performing films namely Kiss of Death, The Great White Hype and Losing Isaiah. The actor ended this flop streak with two big hits including Die Hard with a Vengeance, which had Bruce Willis in the lead role and A Time to Kill, where he essayed the role of a father who is tried for killing two men whom he suspected to have raped his daughter.

In 1997, Jackson teamed up with Tarantino again for Jackie Brown. The movie that had Jackson playing an arms merchant won him Silver Bear award for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. In 1999, he featured in George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. In an interview, the actor said that he did not have the chance to read the script and he had no idea that he would be playing the role of Mace Windu until he was made to wear the costume. He liked the character so much that he later went on to say that he would accept any role, just to be part of the Star Wars saga.

Before Jackson returned to feature in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones in 2002, Jackson appeared in films like Rules of Engagement (2000), The Caveman's Valentine (2001) and Changing Lanes (2002). In his next movie xXx co-starring Vin Diesel, he appeared as an NSA agent. In 2003, he essayed the role of a police sergeant in S.W.A.T, which was the remake of the TV show of the same name opposite Colin Farrell.

The year 2004 saw Jackson starring in his lowest and highest ranked films. He appeared in the thriller movie, Twisted where he played the role of a mentor to Ashley Judd. In the same year, he lent his voice to the computer-animated film, The Incredibles. The movie received 97% approval ratings and the actor's performance earned him the Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting. In the same year, he did a cameo in Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2, which had Uma Thruman in the lead role.

In 2005, Jackson appeared in two sequels, namely, XXX: State of the Union and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. His other movie in the same year was 'The Man' co-starring comedian Eugene Levy. The actor's next few movies between 2006 and 2007 including Freedomland, Home of the Brave, Black Snake Moan, Resurrecting the Champ and 1408 were either average hits or flops. In 2008, Jackson played the villain in 'The Spirit,' the movie directed by Frank Miller was a commercial failure and it was poorly received by the critics.

The actor combined again with Quentin Tarantino in Inglorious Basterds and lent his voice to several scenes in the movie. In 2010, he starred in the comedy film, The Other Guys alongside Dwayne Johnson, where he played the role of a police officer. As per the deal Jackson signed in 2009 with the Marvel, he agreed to appear in Nine films namely, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron and all the Avengers sequels as they would be produced. He reprised his role of Nick Fury in other Marvel films like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Captain Marvel (2019).

One of the most promising project of Jackson in 2016 includes The Legend of Tarzan, which also features Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, Djimon Hounsou and Jim Broadbent. His other projects include Afro Samurai, wherein he is donning the hat of a producer and The Last Dragon and Kong: Skull Island.