INPERSON
Canonsburg Native Fits the Bill
Lawrence Burgess, Jr., is a rising star making his hometown proud.
BY MARK BERTON
Lawrence Burgess, Jr., on set preparing for a role as a police officer.
You’ ve seen Lawrence Burgess, Jr. You may not realize it, but you’ ve seen him. Whether it’ s a true crime episode on Discovery ID, playing the part of a husband of a murdered wife, or dancing in a Glide Floss commercial with Steeler Antonio Brown, Burgess has been acting for decades.
Like the roles he plays in commercials and major motion pictures, Burgess’ life has been a series of diverse parts woven together to form the life of an extremely diverse individual.
A graduate of Canon-Mac who was a three-year starter and letterman for wrestling, cross-country and track, and a band member, Burgess enlisted in the Navy after high school and became a Desert Storm veteran. Since then, he’ s been a pool shark— the only person in Washington County at the time to win first place 8-ball Mini Singlesz in the TAP League— a husband to his wife, Lisa, and a father to Emerald Elizabeth, who’ s currently in fourth grade.
Aside from his family, Burgess says acting is what he loves the most for the fun of it and because it gives him the opportunity to portray positive African-American role models on screen and in his community. He said he draws inspiration from his father, Larry Burgess, a longtime employee of Cooper Power Systems who passed away in 1995.
In 2015, he got his first break in“ South Paw,” playing a bit part as a police officer alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams. The boxing film grossed more than $ 92 million at the box office.
He received his SAG card and has been submitting for roles ever since.“ I do everything independently, so it’ s always submit, submit, submit,” he says.“ Whether it’ s New York, Atlanta, California, I’ m always submitting and I always have a lot of faith that I’ m going to get the roles.”
That hustle led to him getting a role with Discovery ID, but not as the role he submitted for, forcing him to improvise his character.
The story was a reenactment of a murder case in Florida.“ When I first went for this role, I went for the killer. They sent me
14 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Canon-Mac