Morgan Freeman

The voice of wisdom and resilience on screen.

He has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.^[1][2] The actor Morgan Freeman came into the world on the first day of June in 1937, in the city of Memphis, located in Tennessee.^[3][4] According to a 2022 Empire magazine poll of its readership, Freeman was selected as one of the fifty finest actors ever.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born

1 June 1937

Birthplace

Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Organization

Revelations Entertainment

Occupation

Actor
producer
narrator

Years active

1964–present

Children

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He served in the United States Air Force as an Automatic Tracking Radar repairman from 1955 to 1959.^[5] Freeman made his Off-Broadway debut in 1967 opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Niggerlovers.^[6] Freeman won a Drama Desk Award for his role in the 1978 stage production The Mighty Gents.^[7][2] Among Freeman's ancestors from four generations back were enslaved individuals who made the journey from North Carolina to Mississippi.^[4]

From 1971 onward, Freeman was a cast member of the PBS children's program The Electric Company.^[7] For his performance in the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, Freeman was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[8][2]

What the cited sources add

Freeman told Heidenry that having to do something again and again for no discernible reason tends to be a bit debilitating to the energy.^[9] The AFI Life Achievement Award announcement states that Freeman ranks 10th among worldwide top-grossing actors of all time.^[2] Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, said that Freeman embodies a calm authority that demands respect for the character and for the art form.^[2] Common, Freeman's co-star in Wanted, remarked that Freeman is a cool guy who would be walking around joking and singing and just dancing.^[10]

The IBDB record shows that the 2008 Broadway revival of The Country Girl, starring Freeman, ran from April 27 to July 20, 2008.^[11]

References

Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Travis, "Empire's 50 Greatest Actors of All Time List, Revealed", Empire, December 20, 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Bettinger, "AFI to Present Morgan Freeman with the Life Achievement Award", Collider, October 12, 2010. facts only, no text reused. collider.com
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ross, "Interview with Morgan Freeman", July 3, 1978 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Steinbeiser, "Happy Birthday! Morgan Freeman Turns 78 Today", ComicBook.com, June 1, 2015; "Morgan Freeman profile", African American Lives 2; Ross, "Interview with Morgan Freeman", July 3, 1978; Tracy, "Morgan Freeman : a biography", Barricade Books, 2006, p. 7–9, 14; DeAngelis, "Morgan Freeman", Chelsea House Publishers, 2000, p. 12 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tracy, "Morgan Freeman : a biography", Barricade Books, 2006, p. 7–9, 14; "TogetherWeServed – A1C Morgan Porterfield Freeman", togetherweserved.com; Tracy, "Morgan Freeman : a biography", Barricade Books, 2006, p. 7–9, 14; Whitaker, "Is Morgan Freeman America's Greatest Actor?", Ebony, April 1990, p. 32–34 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Young, Jeff C., "Amazing African-American actors", Enslow Publishers, Inc, 2013, p. 57–61; Morgan Freeman Biography . tiscali.co.uk; "HELLO, DOLLY! (1967 BROADWAY CAST)", Sony Music Entertainment; Weber, "Driving Mr. Freeman Back Onstage", The New York Times, April 20, 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lipton, "Morgan Freeman", January 2, 2005; Whitaker, "Is Morgan Freeman America's Greatest Actor?", Ebony, April 1990, p. 32–34; "Joan Ganz Cooney discusses the beginnings of "The Electric Company"- EMMYTVLEGENDS", YouTube, October 21, 2011; "Morgan Freeman talks 'Street Smart', winning an Oscar and reveals that acting isn't hard", YouTube, August 21, 2014; Weber, "Driving Mr. Freeman Back Onstage", The New York Times, April 20, 2008; Morales, "Morgan Freeman's 'Big Bounce'", CBS News, January 15, 2004; Eder, "Stage: The Mighty Gents'", en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Morgan Freeman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lipton, "Morgan Freeman", January 2, 2005; "Million Dollar Baby", www.goldenglobes.com; Ebert, "Million Dollar Baby movie review (2005) Roger Ebert", Roger Ebert, December 14, 2004; Andrew, "Million Dollar Baby", Time Out Worldwide, June 24, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Heidenry, "The Little-Known Story of How The Shawshank Redemption Became One of the Most Beloved Films of All Time", September 22, 2014. facts only, no text reused. vanityfair.com
Morales, "June 2008 blackfilm.com Wanted: An Exclusive Interview with Commonn", www.blackfilm.com, June 23, 2008. facts only, no text reused. blackfilm.com
The Country Girl, "The Country Girl – Broadway Play – 2008 Revival IBDB", Internet Broadway Database. facts only, no text reused. ibdb.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Morgan Freeman (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.