MLK Day: 12 Actors Who Played Martin Luther King

Allison Schonter

01/15/2018 06:33 pm EST

Actors frequently are given the chance to step into the shoes of history's most prolific figures, including the shoes of Martin Luther King Jr.

The activist, who is commemorated every year on the third Monday of January, paved the way for African-Americans to eventually have equal rights in the United States before his assassination in 1968, and his story and his legacy is often portrayed in films, TV series, and plays.

Keep scrolling to see some of the men who have portrayed Martin Luther King Jr.

Paul Winfield

In NBC's 1978 TV mini-series King, Paul Winfield portrayed MLK from his days as a Southern Baptist minister up until his 1968 assassination in Memphis. The mini-series went on to earn a number of Emmy nominations, including a win for music composition.

James Earl Jones

In 1982, the man who voiced Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader in Star Wars, stepped into the shoes of activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the TV mini-series Freedom to Speak. The mini-series featured a range of historical figures.

Robert Guillaume

In one of his most praised performances of his more than 50-year-long career, Guillaume took on the role of King in the 1984 film Prince Jack. The film largely focused on the inner workings of Kennedy administration.

Clifton Powell

Powell stepped into the activist's shoes in the 1999 film Selma, Lord, Selma. The drama focuses on the Selma march through the eyes of 19-year-old Sheyann Webb, who joined the civil rights movement after witnessing one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches.

Courtney B. Vance

Vance, a two-time Tony nominee best known for his portrayal of A.D.A. Carter in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, took on the role of King in the TV mini-series Parting the Waters. Airing in 2000, the series was based on the Pulitzer-winning biography of the same name.

LeVar Burton

Telling the story of pro boxer Muhammad Ali, LeVar Burton portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2001 film Ali. Burton is also known for his portrayal as Geordie LaForge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has also won multiple Emmys and a Peadbody Award for Reading Rainbow.

Jeffery Wright

Jeffrey Wright portrayed King in the 2001 TV movie Boycott, which focused on the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama and the string of events that followed. The film went on to earn several nominations and a win at the NAACP Image Awards.

Dexter Scott King

Dexter Scott King, the second son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta King, portrayed his father in the 2002 movie The Rosa Parks Story. The TV movie tells the story of civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

Samuel L. Jackson

In his Broadway debut, Samuel L. Jackson portrayed King in the stage production The Mountaintop. The play, which premiered in 2009, depicted King's final moments on the eve of his assassination.

Malik Yoba

Malik Yoba, best known as Vernon Turner in Fox's hit show Empire, had the opportunity to portray King in the 2013 Lifetime movie Betty and Corretta. The TV movie, which also featured Mary J. Blige as Coretta Scott King and Angela Bassett as Betty Shabaz, detailed the lives of the widows of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcon X's widows following their assassinations following their assassinations.

Nelsan Ellis

Venturing away from his role of Lafayatte Reynolds in the HBO television series True Bloods, Ellis took on the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the critically acclaimed 2013 film The Butler. The film followed the story of White House butler Cecil Gaines through the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and several other prominent historical moments.

David Oyelowo

In 2014, David Oyelowo took on the leading role of MLK in Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated film Selma. The movie, which depicted the activist's 1965 voting campaign and the march from Selma to Montgomery, received two Oscar nominations, and Oyelowo received a Golden Globe nomination as well as won the Critics' Choice Award for best actor and the NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor.

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