Morgan Freeman is famous throughout the nation, for the quiet dignity and the depth of character that he portrays in his characters. In his career he has played such characters as street pimps, and convicts to the President of the United States, and even God.
Morgan Freeman was born to the world on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. His parents worked as a school teacher and a barber, and as their family grew, they were forced to take on extra work in the local hospital, to make ends meet. Following the arrival of the last of their six children, Morgan’s parents decided to move to Chicago to seek work in the factories. Morgan went to live with his grandparents in Charleston, Mississippi. He remembers life being relatively pleasant during those years even though history would have us believe that all blacks endured suffering in the south, during those times. He spent his summers with his parents in Chicago, and it was during this time that he was introduced to the modern marvel of the cinema. His family not having enough money to waste on such petty things as movies, Morgan would dig through trash for empty cans and bottles to recycle in order to pay for the 12-cent admission.
Morgan excelled in the latter years of his schooling and went on to join the Air Force where he worked as an airplane technician. His passion for movies never having died, as soon as his tour of duty had ended, he headed straight
to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He started working for Los Angeles City College where he was allowed free dancing, singing, and acting classes. Morgan struggled hard during these years waiting for his big break, but before that break would come, he found himself on the stage performing in The Royal Hunt of the Sun. The experience proved incredible for Morgan and with a renewed sense of purpose he moved to New York City and chased dreams of Broadway.
He began his off-Broadway career in a stage production called The Niggerlovers, about the freedom riders of the civil rights movement. He followed this with a part in the all-black Broadway version of Hello, Dolly! Throughout the sixties, Morgan pursued his stage career taking on huge variety of parts. He also acted as a walk-on in T.V. commercials and movies. His first big break came in the form of a child’s television educational show entitled The Electric Company. His role as Easy Reader, found him a small measure of fame as he starred alongside Bill Cosby, and Rita Moreno but he feared typecasting and was relieved when the show was cancelled after almost 800 episodes.
His first real movie role was awarded him from none other, than Robert Redford. He played a supporting character named Walter, in the movie Brubaker. Brubaker was the tale of a new warden who incarcerates himself in the prison he is about to take over, to learn first hand how corrupt the prison is. Following Brubaker, things cooled off a bit for Morgan, and he returned to Broadway where he continued to excel. He won several Obie awards for his stage performances, and was widely regarded as one of the finest Broadway actors of the time. In 1982 Morgan, now with two kids of his own, decided that the stage wasn’t paying enough and so he took on the role of Dr. Roy Bingham on the daytime soap-opera, Another World. He stayed on the cast for two years before leaving to take a role in the Paul Newman driven feature, Harry and Son.
Once production ended for Harry and Son, Morgan found himself, once again, out of work and went back to Broadway where he eventually landed his obie winning role in the Broadway hit, Driving Miss Daisy. Driving Miss Daisy gave him much publicity as he was praised for his performance, and it wasn’t long before he landed a role opposite Christopher Reeves in Street Smart. In the movie, Morgan portrays a pimp who hassles Reeves’ character, and was recognized for his outstanding performance by being nominated for his first Oscar award.
The tide had officially turned for Morgan Freeman. He finished out the 80's with roles in Clean and Sober, and had his first starring role in the intense movie Lean on Me. His second Oscar nomination came with the film version of Driving Miss Daisy where he reprised his original stage role. He found roles alongside some of Hollywood’s most esteemed actors including Denzel Washington in Glory, Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Clint Eastwood in The Unforgiven.
In 1994 he was nominated for his third Oscar for his role as Red in The Shawshank Redemption. He then worked alongside Dustin Hoffman in Outbreak, and Brad Pitt in Seven. In 1998 he was given the role of the President of the United States in the blockbuster hit, Deep Impact. Shortly after this he started his own production company called Revelations Entertainment. He produced and co-starred in several more movies with Gene Hackman, Ashlee Judd, and Renee Zellweger, then co-starred with Ben Affleck in The Sum of all Fears. In The Sum of all Fears Morgan played a high-ranking CIA operative who is killed when a nuclear explosion is detonated in Baltimore. The film which was initially set to be released in 2001 was delayed by 9/11, and was eventually released in 2002.
The year 2003 brought about the arrival of another blockbuster hit for Morgan, in the Jim Carrey driven comedy, Bruce Almighty. In this film, Morgan portrays God; who, after becoming fed up with Carrey’s continual derision, allots him the powers and responsibilities of the Almighty. A year later, Morgan was nominated for his fourth Oscar for his supporting role in Million Dollar Baby, starring Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank. With five more films set for release in 2005, Morgan Freeman shows no sign of slowing down, which only delights the millions of fans who admire him, all over the world.
