Morgan Freeman

January 26, 3:56 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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MORGAN FREEMAN

Morgan Porterfield Freeman Jr. is an American actor, born on June 1st, 1937.  He is probably best known for his roles in Driving Miss Daisy and The Shawshank Redemption, and also for his distinctive voice -- which oozes integrity -- in his many narrative performances.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a barber and a cleaning woman, Morgan was sent as a baby to live with his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi.  Though he and his family (including three older siblings) moved frequently during his childhood, they finally set down roots in Chicago, Illinois.  Even though Morgan often acted in school plays, he turned down a drama scholarship from Jackson State University and instead enlisted in the Air Force, where he worked as a mechanic.

After he was discharged from the military, Morgan commuted between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where he worked as an actor, singer, and dancer.  In 1967 he made his off-Broadway debut in The Ni**er Lovers (regarding the civil-rights era Freedom Riders).  He was then cast in 1968's all-black, Broadway version of Hello, Dolly!, alongside Cab Calloway and Pearl Bailey.

In the 1970s, Morgan found work on the NBC soap opera Another World, and on the PBS children's series The Electric Company, as the ever cool Easy Reader.

In the 1980s, he began to find film work -- usually as the wise sage or fatherly figure in a less-than-desirable location.  Some of the highlights include Brubaker, Eyewitness, Harry & Son, Teachers, Street Smart (for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Clean and Sober, Lean On Me, and Johnny Handsome.

In 1989, Morgan received another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor, for his work in the film Driving Miss Daisy (he lost to Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot).

Next came Glory, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption (another Best Actor nomination -- he lost to Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump), Outbreak, Se7en, Moll Flanders, Chain Reaction, Kiss The Girls, Amistad, Hard Rain, Deep Impact (playing the first black President of the United States 10 years before we actually got one), Nurse Betty, Under Suspicion, Along Came a Spider, High Crimes, The Sum of All Fears, Dreamcatcher, and Bruce Almighty, where he played none other than God Himself.

In 2004, working once again with Clint Eastwood, Morgan finally earned his first Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) for his work in Million Dollar Baby.

His films since then have included Batman Begins, Lucky Number Slevin, Evan Almighty, Gone Baby Gone, The Bucket List, Wanted, and The Dark Knight.

Morgan has been married twice and has two sons.  He owns multiple restaurants and blues clubs in Mississippi and Tennessee.  In addition to his many humanitarian efforts, he is also a licensed pilot.

Up next for the busy actor: The Maiden Heist, Thick As Thieves, and The Human Factor, where he will again be directed by Clint Eastwood in a biopic of Nelson Mandela.  Sounds like that one could earn him his next Oscar.