Happy Birthday Martin Luther King! His legacy has been remembered through the decades since his work for civil rights and well after his passing. It has been remembered through his actual speeches, stories told, music, TV shows, and movies. As we celebrate his memory on his birthday check out the 15 actors who played Martin Luther King, Jr. and comment which you thought was the best.
Raymond St. Jacques
Jacques played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1977 film “The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover.”
Paul Winfield
Winfield portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 TV miniseries “King.”
James Earl Jones
Jones played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1982 TV miniseries “Freedom to Speak.”
Robert Guillaume
Guillaume starred as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1984 independent film “Prince Jack.”
Jason Bernard
Bernard played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1987 televised play “The Meeting.”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woWoZSyO12c
Jaleel White
White voiced the young Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1999 animated film “Our Friend Martin.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4NW85yslXU
Levar Burton
Burton voiced the role of King in Our Friend Martin and briefly played him in the 2001 film “Ali.”
Dexter Scott King
Dexter King, son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., portrayed his father in the 2002 CBS TV movie “The Rosa Parks Story” and voiced him in the film Our Friend Martin.
Clifton Powell
Powell played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1999 TV movie “Selma, Lord, Selma.”
Jeffrey Wright
Wright played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2001 TV movie “Boycott.”
Samuel L. Jackson
Jackson played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 2011 Broadway hit ‘The Mountaintop’.
Malik Yoba
Yoba portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2013 Lifetime TV movie “Betty and Coretta.”
Nelsan Ellis
The late Nelsan Ellis played MLK Jr. in the 2013 film “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 film “Selma.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUl9CZjldp0
Anthony Mackie
Mackie played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2016 HBO film “All the Way.”