Biography

Morgan Freeman has had an impressive and varied career on stage, television, and screen. It is a career that began in the mid-'60s, when Freeman appeared in an off-Broadway production of The Niggerlovers and with Pearl Bailey in an all-African-American Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. He went on to have a successful career both on and off-Broadway, showcasing his talents in everything from musicals to contemporary drama to Shakespeare.

Before studying acting, the Memphis-born Freeman attended Los Angeles Community College and served a five-year stint with the Air Force from 1955 to 1959. After getting his start on the stage, he worked in television, playing Easy Reader on the PBS children's educational series The Electric Company from 1971 through 1976. During that period, Freeman also made his movie debut in the lighthearted children's movie Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow? (1971). Save for his work on the PBS show, Freeman's television and feature film appearances through the '70s were sporadic, but in 1980, he earned critical acclaim for his work in the prison drama Brubaker. He gained additional recognition for his work on the small screen with a regular role on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives from 1982 to 1984.

Following Brubaker, Freeman's subsequent '80s film work was generally undistinguished until he played the dangerously emotional pimp in Street Smart (1987) and earned his first Oscar nomination. With the success of Street Smart, Freeman's film career duly took off and he appeared in a string of excellent films that began with the powerful Clean and Sober (1988) and continued with Driving Miss Daisy (1989), in which Freeman reprised his Obie-winning role of a dignified, patient Southern chauffeur and earned his second Oscar nomination for his efforts. In 1989, he also played a tough and cynical gravedigger who joins a newly formed regiment of black Union soldiers helmed by Matthew Broderick in Glory. The acclaim he won for that role was replicated with his portrayal of a high school principal in that same year's Lean on Me.

Freeman has been one of the few African-American actors to play roles not specifically written for African-Americans, as evidenced by his work in such films as Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), in which he played Robin's sidekick, and Clint Eastwood's revisionist Western Unforgiven (1992). In 1993, Freeman demonstrated his skills on the other side of the camera, making his directorial debut with Bopha!, the story of a South African cop alienated from his son by apartheid. The following year, the actor received a third Oscar nomination as an aged lifer in the prison drama The Shawshank Redemption. He went on to do steady work throughout the rest of the decade, turning in memorable performances in films like Seven (1995), in which he played a world-weary detective; Amistad (1997), which featured him as a former slave; Kiss the Girls (1997), a thriller in which he played a police detective; and Deep Impact, a 1998 blockbuster that cast Freeman as the President of the United States. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Danny the Dog (2004)
Tusker (2003) (voice)
Big Bounce, The (2003) .... Walter Crewes
Bruce Almighty (2003) .... God
Dreamcatcher (2003) .... Colonel Abraham Curtiss
Levity (2003) .... Miles Evans
Sum of All Fears, The (2002) .... DCI William Cabot
Partners of the Heart (2002) .... Himself (Narrator)
High Crimes (2002) .... Charlie Grimes
Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature (2001) (TV) .... Himself
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Along Came a Spider (2001) .... Alex Cross
... aka Im Netz der Spinne (2001) (Germany)
73rd Annual Academy Awards, The (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Acapulco Black Film Festival (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Directors: Clint Eastwood, The (2000) (V) .... Himself
... aka AFI's the Directors: Clint Eastwood (2000) (V) (USA: complete title)
Kennedy Center Honors, The (2000) (TV) .... Himself
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Nurse Betty (2000) .... Charlie
Under Suspicion (2000) .... Captain Victor Benezet
... aka Suspicion (2000/II) (France)
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light (2000) (TV) (uncredited) (archive footage) .... Himself
... aka American Masters: Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light (2000) (TV) (USA: series title)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Mutiny (1999) (TV)
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist (1998) .... Himself/Host
Screening (1998) .... Himself
Deep Impact (1998) .... President Tom Beck
Hard Rain (1998) .... Jim
... aka Flood (1998) (Japan: English title)
Amistad (1997) .... Theodore Joadson
Long Way Home, The (1997) (voice) .... Narrator
Kiss the Girls (1997) .... Dr. Alex Cross
Cosmic Voyage (1996) (voice) .... Narrator
Chain Reaction (1996) .... Paul Shannon
Moll Flanders (1996) .... Hibble
Inside the White House (1995) (TV) (voice) .... Narrator
Se7en (1995) .... Detective Lt. William Somerset
Outbreak (1995) .... Brigadier General Billy Ford
"Promised Land, The" (1995) (mini) TV Series .... Narrator
Century of Cinema, A (1994) .... Himself
Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) .... Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
65th Annual Academy Awards, The (1993) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Unforgiven (1992) .... Ned Logan
Clint Eastwood on Westerns (1992) (TV) .... Himself
Power of One, The (1992) .... Geel Piet
... aka Puissance de l'ange, La (1992) (France)
True Story of Glory Continues, The (1991) (voice) .... Narrator
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) .... Azeem
Bonfire of the Vanities, The (1990) .... Judge Leonard White
"Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... John Boston
... aka "American Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) (UK)
Glory (1989) .... Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) .... Hoke Colburn, Daisy's Chauffeur
Johnny Handsome (1989) .... Lieutenant A.Z. Drones
Lean on Me (1989) .... 'Crazy' Joe Clark, Principal Eastside High
Clean and Sober (1988) .... Craig
Clinton and Nadine (1988) (TV) .... Dorsey Pratt
... aka Blood Money: The Story of Clinton and Nadine (1988) (TV)
Fight for Life (1987) (TV) .... Dr. Sherard
Street Smart (1987) .... Fast Black
Resting Place (1986) (TV) .... Luther Johnson
Execution of Raymond Graham, The (1985) (TV) .... Warden Pratt
That Was Then... This Is Now (1985) .... Charlie Woods
Marie (1985) .... Charles Traughber
... aka Marie: A True Story (1985)
"Atlanta Child Murders, The" (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Ben Shelter
Teachers (1984) .... Lewis
Harry and Son (1984) .... Siemanowski
"Another World" (1964) TV Series .... Dr. Roy Bingham (1982-1984)
... aka "Another World: Bay City" (1964)
Death of a Prophet (1981) .... Malcolm X
Marva Collins Story, The (1981) (TV) .... Clarence Collins
Eyewitness (1981) .... Lieutenant Black
... aka Janitor, The (1981)
Brubaker (1980) .... Walter, Solitary Inmate
Attica (1980) (TV) .... Hap Richards
Coriolanus (1979) .... Coriolanus
Julius Caesar (1979/II) (V) .... Casca
Hollow Image (1979) (TV) .... Sweet Talk (Ralph Simmons)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1978) (TV) .... Uncle Hammer
Blade (1973) .... Chris
Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow? (1971) .... Afro
... aka Barney (1971)
"Electric Company, The" (1971) TV Series .... Mark; Easy Reader; Mel Mounds the DJ; Count Dracula; Mad Scientist; the Cop