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Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman at premiere of The Bucket List in 2008
Born	Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. June 1, 1937 (1937-06-01) (age 72) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/Director
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Jeanette Adair Bradshaw (1967–1979) Myrna Colley-Lee (1984–)

Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice.¹

Freeman received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption before winning in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Batman Begins, Evan Almighty, The Bucket List, Wanted, and The Dark Knight.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 4.1 Films 4.2 Television appearances 5 Other awards and honoraries 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere), and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Sr., who died in 1961 from liver cirrhosis. He was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi.²³⁴ He has three older siblings. Freeman's family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois.⁴ Freeman made his acting debut at age nine, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School (Mississippi) currently Threadgill Elementary School in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School (Threadgill Elementary School), he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street High School (Threadgill Elementary School), but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.

Freeman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles Community College. During this period, he also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring music group. Freeman acted in a touring company version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in the 1965 film The Pawnbroker. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers⁵⁶ (about the civil rights era "Freedom Riders"), before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly!, which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway.

Career

Although his first credited film appearance was in 1971's Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?, Freeman first became known in the American media through roles on the soap opera Another World and the PBS kids' show The Electric Company,⁴ (notably as Easy Reader and Vincent the Vegetable Vampire) which he later said he should have left earlier than he did.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Freeman began playing prominent supporting roles in many feature films, earning him a reputation for depicting wise and fatherly characters.⁴ As he gained fame, he went on to bigger roles in films such as the chauffeur Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, and Sergeant Major Rawlins in Glory (both in 1989).⁴ In 1994 he portrayed Red, the redeemed convict in the acclaimed The Shawshank Redemption. He also starred in films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, and Deep Impact. In 1997, Freeman, together with Lori McCreary, founded the movie production company Revelations Entertainment, and the two co-head its sister online movie distribution company ClickStar. Freeman also hosts the channel Our Space on ClickStar, with specially crafted film clips in which he shares his love for the sciences, especially space exploration and aeronautics.

After three previous nominations—a supporting actor nomination for Street Smart, and leading actor nominations for Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption—he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Million Dollar Baby at the 77th Academy Awards.⁴ Freeman is recognized for his distinctive voice, making him a frequent choice for narration. In 2005 alone, he provided narration for two films, War of the Worlds and the Academy Award-winning documentary film March of the Penguins.

In 1991, Freeman was offered a lead role in Jurassic Park. Unsure that dinosaurs could make for interesting co-stars, Freeman traveled to the Museum of Natural History to see the "damn beasts" in person. In a 2007 interview with Atlanta Radio Correspondent Veronica Waters, Freeman revealed that he was stunned when he learned that birds descended from dinosaurs. While he turned down the role, Freeman spent the next summer reading books on Ornithology. This would later lead to his desire to narrate the documentary March of the Penguins.

Freeman has recently been well known for his role as God in the hit movie Bruce Almighty and its sequel, Evan Almighty, as well as his role as Lucius Fox in the critical and commercial success Batman Begins and its 2008 sequel, The Dark Knight. He starred in Rob Reiner's 2007 film The Bucket List, opposite Jack Nicholson. He teams with Christopher Walken and William H. Macy for the comedy The Maiden Heist, due out in early 2009. In April 2008, Freeman returned to Broadway to co-star with Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher for a limited engagement of Clifford Odets's play, The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols.

He has wanted to do a film based on Nelson Mandela for some time. At first he tried to get Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, adapted into a finished script, but it could never be finalized.⁷ In 2007 he purchased the film rights to a pre-published 2008 book by John Carlin, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation - (ISBN 9781594201745).⁸ Clint Eastwood will be directing the Nelson Mandela bio-pic titled Invictus, a film based on a The Human Factor, starring Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain Francois Pienaar.⁹

Personal life

Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967, until 1979. He has been married to Myrna Colley-Lee since June 16, 1984. Since December 2007, he has been separated from Myrna. Freeman's attorney and business partner Bill Luckett, announced in August 2008 that Freeman and his wife are in the process of divorce.¹⁰ He has two sons, Alfonso and Saifoulaye, from previous relationships. He adopted his first wife's daughter, Deena, and the couple also had a fourth child, Morgana. Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi, and New York City. He has a private pilot's license, which he earned at age 65,¹¹ and co-owns and operates Madidi, a fine dining restaurant, and Ground Zero, a blues club, both located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He officially opened his second Ground Zero in Memphis, Tennessee on April 24, 2008.

Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."¹² He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month".¹³ Freeman once said on an interview with 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace: "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."¹² Freeman supported the defeated proposal to change the Mississippi state flag, which contains the Confederate battle flag.¹⁴¹⁵

On October 28, 2006, Freeman was honored at the first Mississippi's Best Awards in Jackson, Mississippi, with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his works on and off the big screen. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts and Letters from Delta State University during the school's commencement exercises on May 13, 2006.¹⁶

In 2008 Freeman's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test showed that he is descended from the Songhai and Tuareg peoples of Niger.

In 2004 Morgan Freeman and others formed the Grenada Relief Fund to aid people affected by Hurricane Ivan on the island of Grenada. The Grenada Relief Fund has since become PLAN!T NOW, an organization that seeks to provide preparedness resources for people living in hurricane and severe-storm afflicted areas.¹⁷

Morgan Freeman has also worked on narrating small clips for global organizations, such as One Earth,¹⁸ whose goals include raising awareness of environmental issues. He has narrated the clip "Why Are We Here", which can be viewed on One Earth's website.

Freeman endorsed Barack Obama's candidacy for the United States presidential election, 2008, although he stated that he would not join Obama's campaign.¹⁹

Freeman has donated money to the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville, Mississippi. The Horse park is part of Mississippi State University. Freeman has several horses that he takes there.²⁰

Wikinews has related news: American actor Morgan Freeman in serious condition after car accident

Freeman was injured in an automobile accident near Ruleville, Mississippi, on the night of August 3, 2008. The vehicle in which he was traveling, a 1997 Nissan Maxima, left the highway and flipped over several times. He and a female passenger, Demaris Meyer, were rescued from the vehicle using the "Jaws of Life". Freeman was taken via medical helicopter to The Regional Medical Center (The Med) hospital in Memphis.²¹²² Police ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash.²³ Freeman was coherent following the crash, as he joked to a photographer about taking his picture at the scene.²⁴ He broke his shoulder, arm and elbow in the crash and had surgery on August 5, 2008. Doctors operated for four hours to repair nerve damage in his shoulder and arm.²⁵ His publicist announced he was expected to make a full recovery.²⁶²⁷ Meyer, his passenger, has sued him for negligence, claiming that he was drinking the night of the accident.²⁸ She has denied reports that the two were romantically involved.²⁹

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1980	Brubaker	Walter
1981	Eyewitness	Lieutenant Black
1984	Teachers	Al Lewis
	Harry & Son	Siemanowski
1985	Marie	Charles Traughber
	That Was Then... This Is Now	Charlie Woods
1987	Street Smart	Fast Black	Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1988	Clean and Sober	Craig
1989	Glory	Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins
	Driving Miss Daisy	Hoke Colburn	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
	Lean on Me	Principal Joe Clark
	Johnny Handsome	Lt. A.Z. Drones
1990	The Bonfire of the Vanities	Judge Leonard White
	The Civil War	Voice of Frederick Douglass
1991	Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	Azeem	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Kevin Costner
1992	Unforgiven	Ned Logan
	The Power of One	Geel Piet
1993	Bopha!		director only
1994	The Shawshank Redemption	Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, Narrator	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture
1995	Outbreak	Brig. Gen. Billy Ford
	Seven	Detective Lt. William Somerset	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Brad Pitt Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
1996	Chain Reaction	Paul Shannon
	Moll Flanders	Hibble
	Cosmic Voyage	Narrator
1997	Amistad	Theodore Joadson
	Kiss The Girls	Dr. Alex Cross
1998	Deep Impact	President Tom Beck
	Hard Rain	Jim
2000	Nurse Betty	Charlie Quinn
	Under Suspicion	Victor Benezet
2001	Along Came a Spider	Dr. Alex Cross
2002	The Sum of All Fears	DCI William Cabot
	High Crimes	Charlie Grimes
2003	Bruce Almighty	God
	Dreamcatcher	Col. Abraham Curtis
	Levity	Pastor Miles Evans
	Drug War	Lt. Redding
2004	Million Dollar Baby	Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
	The Hunting of the President	Narrator	limited release
	The Big Bounce	Walter Crewes
2005	An Unfinished Life	Mitch Bradley
	War of the Worlds	Narrator
	March of the Penguins	Narrator
	Batman Begins	Lucius Fox
	Unleashed	Sam
2006	Edison Force	Ashford
	The Contract	Frank Carden
	Lucky Number Slevin	The Boss
	10 Items or Less	Himself
2007	Evan Almighty	God
	Feast of Love	Harry Scott
	Gone, Baby, Gone	Jack Doyle
	The Bucket List	Carter Chambers	also narrator
2008	Wanted	Sloan
	The Love Guru	Himself	Voice
	The Dark Knight	Lucius Fox
2009	Thick as Thieves	Keith Ripley
	The Maiden Heist	Charlie	awaiting release
	Invictus	Nelson Mandela	filming
	Prom Night In Mississippi	Himself	limited release

Television appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971-1977	The Electric Company	Easy Reader, Vincent the Vegetable Vampire	television series
1978	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry	Uncle Hammer	made-for-television
1981	The Marva Collins Story	Clarence Collins	made-for-television
1985	The Twilight Zone	Tony	Television series (episode "Dealer's Choice")
1986	Resting Place	Luther Johnson	made-for-television
1987	Fight For Life	Dr. Sherard	made-for-television
2008	2008 Olympic VISA commercials and other VISA commercials	Voice-over	Television advertisement
	Smithsonian Channel's Sound Revolution	Himself	television series, series host
	Stephen Fry in America	Himself	television series, appears in episode 3

Other awards and honoraries

• 1978 Nominated for Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play in The Mighty Gents.
• 1997 Received an honorary degree from Rhodes College, becoming an honorary alumnus³⁰
• 2003 Received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
• 2006 Guest of honor at the Cairo International Film Festival.
• 2007 He and his wife received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.
• 2007 Outstanding Contribution To Film And TV gong at the Screen Nation Film and TV Awards.
• 2008 Kennedy Center Honors

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Morgan Freeman

• Morgan Freeman at the Internet Movie Database
• Morgan Freeman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Morgan Freeman at the Internet off-Broadway Database
• Morgan Freeman at Allmovie
• ClickStar headed by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary
• Revelations Entertainment Production company co-founded by Freeman
• A detailed biography of his history as an actor
• Morgan Freeman movies at Movie Information

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Jim Broadbent (2001) · Chris Cooper (2002) · Tim Robbins (2003) · Morgan Freeman (2004) · George Clooney (2005) · Alan Arkin (2006) · Javier Bardem (2007) · Heath Ledger (2008) Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Dudley Moore (1981) · Dustin Hoffman (1982) · Michael Caine (1983) · Dudley Moore (1984) · Jack Nicholson (1985) · Paul Hogan (1986) · Robin Williams (1987) · Tom Hanks (1988) · Morgan Freeman (1989) · Gérard Depardieu (1990) · Robin Williams (1991) · Tim Robbins (1992) · Robin Williams (1993) · Hugh Grant (1994) · John Travolta (1995) · Tom Cruise (1996) · Jack Nicholson (1997) · Michael Caine (1998) · Jim Carrey (1999) · George Clooney (2000) Complete List · (1950–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)

v • d • e Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Ian McKellen (2001) · Christopher Walken (2002) · Tim Robbins (2003) · Morgan Freeman (2004) · Paul Giamatti (2005) · Eddie Murphy (2006) · Javier Bardem (2007) · Heath Ledger (2008) Complete list · (1994-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Jack Ryan film series Films The Hunt for Red October (1990) • Patriot Games (1992) • Clear and Present Danger (1994) • The Sum of All Fears (2002) • Without Remorse (2011) Actors playing Ryan Alec Baldwin • Harrison Ford • Ben Affleck Actors playing Clark Willem Dafoe • Liev Schreiber Other actors Sean Connery (Marko Ramius) • James Earl Jones (James Greer; The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) • Sean Bean (Sean Miller; Patriot Games) • Morgan Freeman (William Cabot; The Sum of All Fears)

Persondata
NAME	Freeman, Morgan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	actor
DATE OF BIRTH	June 1, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH	Memphis, Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH