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Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, for which he also won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award and received a Golden Globe nomination. The film marked his second collaboration with director Clint Eastwood, following Freeman's role in the Oscar-winning Best Picture Unforgiven. In 2009, he reunited with Eastwood to star in the true-life drama Invictus, on which Freeman also served as an executive producer under his Revelations Entertainment banner. For his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in the film, Freeman garnered Oscar, Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award nominations, and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor.

Freeman has been honored with three additional Oscar nominations, the first for his chilling performance in the 1987 drama Street Smart, which also brought him Los Angeles, New York, and National Society of Film Critics Awards, and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He earned his second Oscar nomination and won Golden Globe and National Board of Review Awards for Best Actor for the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy, in which he recreated his award-winning off-Broadway role. He gained his third Oscar nod, as well as Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, for his performance in Frank Darabont's 1994 drama The Shawshank Redemption. Among his many other accolades, Freeman was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008.

Freeman next stars in the family adventure Dolphin Tale, based on a true story and opening in September 2011. His long list of film credits also includes RED; Christopher Nolan's blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; Rob Reiner's The Bucket List, opposite Jack Nicholson; Robert Benton's Feast of Love; Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone; Lasse Hallsom's An Unfinished Life; the Jet Li actioner Unleashed; the comedy Bruce Almighty and its sequel, Evan Almighty; The Sum of All Fears; Along Came a Spider; Nurse Betty; Deep Impact; Steven Spielberg's Amistad; Kiss the Girls; David Fincher's Se7en; Glory; Lean on Me; Harry & Son, directed by and starring Paul Newman; and Brubaker. He also lent his voice to Spielberg's War of the Worlds and the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins

In 1993, Freeman made his directorial debut on Bopha! and soon after formed Revelations Entertainment. In addition to Invictus, other Revelations productions include LevityUnder SuspicionMutinyAlong Came a SpiderFeast of Love10 Items or Less and Maiden Heist. The Memphis-born actor began his career on the stages of New York in the early 1960s, following a stint as a mechanic in the Air Force. A decade later, he became a nationally known television personality when he created the popular character Easy Reader on the acclaimed children's show The Electric Company

Throughout the 1970s, he continued his work on stage, winning Drama Desk and Clarence Derwent Awards and receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance in The Mighty Gents in 1978. In 1980, he won Obie Awards for his portrayal of Shakespearean anti-hero Coriolanus at the New York Shakespeare Festival and for his work in Mother Courage and Her Children

Freeman won another Obie in 1984 for his performance as The Messenger in the acclaimed Brooklyn Academy of Music production of Lee Breuer's The Gospel at Colonus and, in 1985, won the Drama-Logue Award for the same role. In 1987, Freeman created the role of Hoke Coleburn in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy, which brought him his fourth Obie Award. In 1990, Freeman starred as Petruchio in the New York Shakespeare Festival's The Taming of the Shrew, opposite Tracey Ullman.

Returning to the Broadway stage in 2008, Freeman starred with Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher in Clifford Odett's drama The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2012.
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Morgan Freeman Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayJune 1, 1937 (86)
SignGemini
BirthplaceMemphis, Tennessee, USA
Height6' 2" (1m88)  How tall is Morgan Freeman compared to you?
Awards2005 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for Million Dollar Baby)
2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role (for Million Dollar Baby)
1990 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (for Driving Miss Daisy)

Selected Filmography

Gone Baby Gone
The Lego Movie
Now You See Me 2
Wanted
Ted 2
Ben-Hur
The Dark Knight Rises
Lucy
Red
Continue » Find more details on the Morgan Freeman Movies page