He played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994),[4] Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries Roots (1977), and was the host of the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for 23 years (1983–2006).

[5] His other roles include Cap Jackson in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Donald Lang in Dummy (1979), Tommy Price in The Hunter (1980), which earned him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture,[6] and Martin Luther King Jr. in Ali (2001).

[9] In October 2024 Burton appeared as the host of the Trivial Pursuit television game show broadcast on The CW network and streaming online.

[12] Burton's father, also named LeVar, was a photographer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps stationed at Landstuhl at the time of his son's birth.

[14][15][16][17] As a teen, Burton, who was raised Catholic,[18] entered St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Galt, California, intending to become a priest.

[20] Burton's breakthrough role was as the young Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries Roots (1977), based on the novel of the same name by Alex Haley.

[21] As a result of his performance, he was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series category.

After Reading Rainbow went off the air in 2006, Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, acquired the global rights to the brand[25] and formed RRKIDZ, a new media company for children.

At RRKIDZ, Burton serves as co-founder and curator-in-chief, ensuring that the projects produced under the banner meet the high expectations and trust of the Reading Rainbow brand.

[26] On May 28, 2014, Burton and numerous coworkers from other past works started a Kickstarter campaign project to bring back Reading Rainbow.

To keep with the changing formats to which young children are exposed, his efforts are being directed at making this new program web based, following the success of the tablet application he helped create in recent years.

[28] In 2017, Burton was sued by the public broadcasting company WNED-TV for alleged copyright infringement for use of the Reading Rainbow brand in marketing the new iPad app and other online media.

[30] In 1986, Gene Roddenberry approached Burton with the role of Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series.

At the time, Burton was considerably better known than Patrick Stewart in the United States, due to his roles in Roots and Reading Rainbow.

In 1987, Burton played Dave Robinson, a journalist (sports writer), in the third season of Murder, She Wrote, episode 16 – "Death Takes a Dive", starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher.

Burton accepted an invitation to host Rebop, a multicultural series designed for young people aged 9–15, produced by WGBH for PBS.

In February 2011, he made an appearance as himself on NBC's Community in the episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking", and then again in January 2014's "Geothermal Escapism".

Late in 2014, he had another guest appearance on a 24-hour Extra Life, a fundraising organization for Children's Miracle Network hospitals, stream by Rooster Teeth.

His segment was a callback to Lance Reddick's interview (2013) in which he mentioned LeVar by name and dressed as an amalgam of Kunta Kinte and Geordi La Forge.

[45] The ratings during his appearance were below average due to tapering audience curiosity and forced viewership competition with NBC's coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which trampled syndicated shows across the board.

[52] He has also directed episodes of Charmed, JAG, Las Vegas, Scorpion, and Soul Food: The Series, as well as the miniseries Miracle's Boys and the biopic The Tiger Woods Story.

He also directed the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House starring Katey Sagal, Kevin Kilner and Jessica Steen.

In August 2020, it was revealed that Burton will sit in the director's chair for Two-Front War from Lou Reda Productions, a multi-perspective docuseries will give "an emotionally raw look at the connection between the fight for civil rights in America and the struggle for equality of Black soldiers in Vietnam".