
Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere) and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Sr., a barber who died in 1961 from liver cirrhosis. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. He has three older siblings. Freeman's family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois. Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, currently Threadgill Elementary School, in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street High School, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force. Freeman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles Community College. During this period, he also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring music group. Freeman acted in a touring company version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in the 1965 film The Pawnbroker. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers (about the civil rights era "Freedom Riders"), before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly!, which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967, until 1979. He married Myrna Colley-Lee on June 16, 1984. The couple separated in December 2007. Freeman's attorney and business partner, Bill Luckett, announced in August 2008 that Freeman and his wife are in the process of divorce. He has two sons from previous relationships. He adopted his first wife's daughter and the couple also had a fourth child. Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi, and New York City. He has a private pilot's license, which he earned at age 65, and co-owns and operates Madidi, a fine dining restaurant, and Ground Zero, a blues club, both located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He officially opened his second Ground Zero in Memphis, Tennessee on April 24, 2008. Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month". Freeman once said on an interview with 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace: "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.
Series | Mississippi Rising | Unknown | 2022 |
Series | Smithsonian Channel's Sound Revolution | Unknown | 2022 |
Movie | The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard | 2021-08-18 | |
Movie | The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II | Himself | 2020-05-10 |
Movie | The Comeback Trail | Reggie Fontaine | 2020-11-12 |
Movie | Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize | 2020-01-07 | |
Movie | Angel Has Fallen | President Trumbull | 2019-08-21 |
Movie | Brian Banks | Jerome Johnson (uncredited) | 2019-08-09 |
Movie | The Poison Rose | Doc | 2019-05-23 |
Movie | America's Musical Journey | Narrator (voice) | 2018-05-17 |
Movie | Alpha | Narrator (voice) | 2018-08-17 |
Movie | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | Drosselmeyer | 2018-10-26 |
Series | Rabbit Ears Productions | Unknown | 2017 |
Movie | March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step | Narrator (voice) | 2017-02-15 |
Movie | Going in Style | Willie Davis | 2017-04-06 |
Series | The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman | Himself - Host | 2017-10-11 |
Movie | Just Getting Started | Duke | 2017-12-01 |
Movie | The Words That Built America | Reader - Declaration of Independence | 2017-07-04 |
Movie | Laddie | Himself | 2017-10-20 |
Movie | London Has Fallen | Vice President Alan Trumbull | 2016-03-02 |
Movie | Now You See Me 2 | Thaddeus Bradley | 2016-06-02 |
Series | The Story of God with Morgan Freeman | Himself - Presenter | 2016-04-03 |
Movie | The C Word | (voice) | 2016-07-28 |
Movie | Ben-Hur | Sheik Ilderim | 2016-08-17 |
Movie | Momentum | Senator | 2015-10-15 |
Movie | Last Knights | Bartok | 2015-04-03 |
Movie | Ted 2 | Patrick Meighan | 2015-06-25 |
Movie | Island of Lemurs: Madagascar | Narrator | 2014-04-03 |
Movie | The Lego Movie | Vitruvius (voice) | 2014-02-06 |
Movie | We the People | Narrator | 2014-01-06 |
Movie | Wish Wizard | Maxwell Omni | 2014-04-29 |
Movie | Dolphin Tale 2 | Dr. Cameron McCarthy | 2014-09-11 |
Movie | Lennon or McCartney | Himself (archive footage) | 2014-12-12 |
Movie | Transcendence | Joseph Tagger | 2014-04-16 |
Movie | 5 Flights Up | Alex Carver | 2014-09-05 |
Movie | Lucy | Professor Samuel Norman | 2014-07-25 |
Movie | Olympus Has Fallen | Speaker Trumbull | 2013-03-20 |
Movie | Oblivion | Beech | 2013-04-10 |
Movie | The Editor and The Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan | Narrator | 2013-01-01 |
Movie | Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot | Himself | 2013-01-15 |
Movie | Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story | Himself | 2013-04-27 |
Movie | The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy | Himself (archive footage) | 2013-09-24 |
Movie | Last Vegas | Archie | 2013-10-31 |
Movie | JFK: A President Betrayed | Narrator | 2013-11-23 |
Movie | Now You See Me | Thaddeus Bradley | 2013-05-29 |
Movie | Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl | Himself | 2012-01-16 |
Movie | Le frontiere dell'Astronomia - EP-7 Vite aliene nel cosmo | Narratore | 2012-03-21 |
Movie | The Dark Knight Rises | Lucius Fox | 2012-07-16 |
Movie | B.B. King: The Life of Riley | Narrator (voice) | 2012-10-15 |
Movie | The Magic of Belle Isle | Monte Wildhorn | 2012-07-06 |
Movie | Ending the Knight | Self | 2012-12-04 |
Movie | Born to Be Wild | Narrator | 2011-04-08 |
Movie | Clint Eastwood's West | Himself | 2011-07-06 |
Movie | Conan the Barbarian | Narrator (voice) | 2011-08-17 |
Movie | Dolphin Tale | Dr. McCarthy | 2011-09-23 |
Movie | Breaking the Taboo | Narrator | 2011-06-03 |
Movie | For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots | (voice) | 2010-01-01 |
Movie | The Eastwood Factor | Narrator | 2010-02-16 |
Movie | The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office | Narrator | 2010-11-24 |
Series | Through The Wormhole | Himself - Host | 2010-06-09 |
Movie | RED | Joe Matheson | 2010-10-13 |
Movie | Thick as Thieves | Keith Ripley | 2009-01-09 |
Movie | Prom Night in Mississippi | Himself | 2009-01-15 |
Series | 30 for 30 | Unknown | 2009-10-06 |
Movie | The Maiden Heist | Charles | 2009-05-09 |
Movie | The People Speak | Himself | 2009-12-13 |
Movie | Invictus | Nelson Mandela | 2009-12-10 |
Series | Live from Studio Five | Unknown | 2009-09-14 |
Movie | A Raisin in the Sun | Narrator (uncredited) | 2008-02-25 |
Movie | Wanted | Sloan | 2008-06-19 |
Movie | The Love Guru | (Voice) | 2008-06-20 |
Movie | The Dark Knight | Lucius Fox | 2008-07-16 |
Movie | Gone Baby Gone | Jack Doyle | 2007-06-06 |
Movie | Evan Almighty | God | 2007-06-09 |
Movie | Feast of Love | Harry Stevenson | 2007-09-28 |
Movie | The Bucket List | Carter Chambers | 2007-12-25 |
Movie | AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition | Himself | 2007-06-20 |
Movie | Lucky Number Slevin | The Boss | 2006-02-24 |
Movie | The Contract | Frank Carden | 2006-04-05 |
Movie | 10 Items or Less | 'Him' | 2006-09-11 |
Movie | The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays | Jaques (segment "As You Like It") | 2006-05-02 |
Movie | March of the Penguins | Narrator | 2005-01-26 |
Movie | Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon | Neil Armstrong | 2005-01-01 |
Movie | Unleashed | Sam | 2005-02-02 |
Movie | Blues Divas | Self | 2005-01-22 |
Movie | An Unfinished Life | Mitch Bradley | 2005-09-09 |
Series | Slavery and the Making of America | Narrator | 2005-02-09 |
Movie | Edison | Ashford | 2005-07-29 |
Movie | War of the Worlds | Narrator (Voice) | 2005-06-28 |
Movie | Batman Begins | Lucius Fox | 2005-06-10 |
Movie | The Big Bounce | Walter Crewes | 2004-01-30 |
Movie | The Hunting of the President | Narrator (voice) | 2004-04-27 |
Movie | Million Dollar Baby | Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris | 2004-12-15 |
Movie | Genius. A Night for Ray Charles | Himself | 2004-10-07 |
Movie | Dreamcatcher | Col. Abraham Curtis | 2003-03-21 |
Movie | Levity | Miles Evans | 2003-03-16 |
Movie | Bruce Almighty | God | 2003-05-23 |
Movie | Guilty by Association | Lt. Redding | 2003-07-22 |
Series | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Unknown | 2003-09-08 |
Movie | Declaration of Independence | Himself | 2003-06-10 |
Movie | High Crimes | Charlie Grimes | 2002-04-05 |
Movie | The Sum of All Fears | DCI William Cabot | 2002-05-31 |
Movie | Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven' | Self | 2002-09-24 |
Series | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | Unknown | 2002-07-20 |
Movie | Along Came a Spider | Alex Cross | 2001-04-06 |
Movie | Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature | Himself | 2001-09-08 |
Movie | Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist | Himself | 2000-01-01 |
Movie | Under Suspicion | Captain Victor Benezet | 2000-09-24 |
Movie | Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows | Narrator (voice) | 2000-09-27 |
Movie | Nurse Betty | Charlie | 2000-08-30 |
Movie | Water Damage | Tom Preedy | 1999-07-30 |
Movie | Stephen King: Shining in the Dark | Himself | 1999-09-09 |
Series | Family Guy | Unknown | 1999-01-31 |
Movie | Deep Impact | President Tom Beck | 1998-05-08 |
Movie | Hard Rain | Jim | 1998-01-16 |
Series | King of the Hill | Unknown | 1997-01-12 |
Movie | Amistad | Theodore Joadson | 1997-12-03 |
Movie | Kiss the Girls | Alex Cross | 1997-09-29 |
Movie | The Long Way Home | Narrator (voice) | 1997-09-19 |
Series | The View | Unknown | 1997-08-11 |
Movie | Inside the White House | Narrator | 1996-01-01 |
Movie | Cosmic Voyage | Narrator (voice) | 1996-08-09 |
Movie | Chain Reaction | Paul Shannon | 1996-08-02 |
Movie | Moll Flanders | Hibble | 1996-06-14 |
Movie | Se7en | Detective Lt. William Somerset | 1995-09-22 |
Movie | Outbreak | Billy Ford | 1995-03-10 |
Series | Inside the Actors Studio | Unknown | 1994-06-01 |
Movie | The Shawshank Redemption | Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding | 1994-09-23 |
Movie | A Century of Cinema | 1994-01-01 | |
Series | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Unknown | 1993-09-13 |
Movie | Unforgiven | Ned Logan | 1992-08-07 |
Movie | The Power of One | Geel Piet | 1992-03-27 |
Series | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Unknown | 1992-05-25 |
Movie | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | Azeem | 1991-06-14 |
Movie | The True Story of Glory Continues | Narrator | 1991-06-19 |
Series | Pebble Mill | Unknown | 1991-10-14 |
Movie | The Earth Day Special | 1990-04-22 | |
Series | The Civil War | Frederick Douglass | 1990-09-23 |
Movie | The Bonfire of the Vanities | Judge Leonard White | 1990-12-21 |
Movie | Lean On Me | Principal Joe Clark | 1989-03-03 |
Movie | Johnny Handsome | Lt. A.Z. Drones | 1989-09-12 |
Movie | Driving Miss Daisy | Hoke Colburn | 1989-12-13 |
Movie | Glory | Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins | 1989-12-15 |
Movie | Clean and Sober | Craig | 1988-08-10 |
Movie | Clinton and Nadine | Dorsey Pratt | 1988-05-04 |
Movie | Street Smart | Fast Black | 1987-03-20 |
Movie | Fight for Life | Dr. Sherard | 1987-03-23 |
Movie | Resting Place | Luther Johnson | 1986-01-01 |
Series | The Atlanta Child Murders | Ben Shelter | 1985-02-10 |
Movie | Marie | Charles Traughber | 1985-09-27 |
Movie | The Execution of Raymond Graham | Warden Pratt | 1985-11-17 |
Movie | That Was Then... This Is Now | Charlie Woods | 1985-11-08 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | Unknown | 1985-09-27 |
Movie | Teachers | Lewis | 1984-10-05 |
Movie | Harry & Son | Siemanowski | 1984-03-02 |
Series | LIVE with Kelly and Ryan | Unknown | 1983-04-04 |
Movie | The Marva Collins Story | Clarence Collins | 1981-12-01 |
Movie | Death of a Prophet | Malcolm X | 1981-01-01 |
Movie | Eyewitness | Lieutenant Black | 1981-02-13 |
Movie | Attica | Hap Richards | 1980-03-01 |
Series | Texas | Detective Michaels | 1980-08-04 |
Movie | Brubaker | Walter | 1980-06-20 |
Movie | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | Uncle Hammer | 1978-11-12 |
Series | The Kennedy Center Honors | Unknown | 1978-12-28 |
Series | Ryan's Hope | Cicero Murphy | 1975-07-07 |
Movie | Blade | Chris | 1973-12-01 |
Series | The Electric Company | Easy Reader | 1971-10-25 |
Movie | Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? | Grand Central Commuter | 1968-01-01 |
Movie | The Pawnbroker | Man on Street (Uncredited) | 1965-04-20 |
Series | Another World | 1964-05-04 | |
Series | The Academy Awards | Morgan Freeman | 1953-03-18 |
Series | Today | Unknown | 1952-01-14 |
Series | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Unknown | 1951-12-24 |