LeVar Burton and daughter Michaela,18, smile big for the cameras just before screening Star Trek: Into Darkness. LeVar is an actor known chiefly for his work in Roots, ‘Reading Rainbow’, and ‘Star Trek: Next Generation.’ He does not, however, star in this movie.
Burton recently stood proud as he introduced the first ever iPad app for ‘Reading Rainbow’ that will give kids the opportunity to explore the wonders of reading. The app, which features the entire ‘Reading Rainbow’ series as shown on PBS decades ago, is free to consumers who subscribe to a full compliment of children’s books for $9.99 per month.
During the hype of the app’s launching, LeVar told Entertainment Weekly that Michaela viewed him as Daddy Rainbow when she was younger because of his incredible role on the educational show. “When she was really little, she used to call me Daddy Rainbow. It is kind of amazing when I think about it. So it’s always been a part of her life, and her media literacy has had to involve differentiating between the daddy on TV and the real daddy that reads to me at night,” explained the actor.
Burton also commented on the life-changing experience of reading to kids affected by 9/11 a year after the tragic day. “We did a show one year after 9/11 at the elementary school closest to Ground Zero, and we really spent some time with that community, and it was an opportunity to speak directly to kids,” said the actor. “One of the things that I’m most proud of Reading Rainbow is that over time, once we had developed a real, solid connection with our audience, we really began to explore the nature of the real world with them in an age-appropriate way. So for me, the 9/11 show is really representative of that effort.”
Michaela is LeVar and wife Stephanie’s only child together. The actor and make-up artist wed in 1992.
