History and Introduction to Morgan Freeman

Born June 1, 1937 Freeman was sent to his paternal grandmother at a very early age and began school at a local elementary school in Charleston, Mississippi. He moved around with his family for quite some time before settling down in Chicago, Illinois. All throughout his moves and finding new schools, Freeman remained loyal to his interests of drama and acting. He was the star of many plays during elementary school and often participated in state fair exhibitions. Lauded as a child prodigy for his acting abilities, Freeman focused on fulfilling his goal of becoming an actor, but later opted out of taking a full scholarship to Jackson State University in Mississippi to join the US Air Force as a plane mechanic.
After his return from service, Freeman settled in between Los Angeles and New York, where he worked for the World's Fair as a dancer. He attended Los Angeles Community College and honed in on his skills as a performance actor. Little did he know that it would excel him to greater heights later in his life. In the early 1960s Freeman began working in broadway and ended up working for a network named PBS as a narrator.
His voice commanding, his demeanor authoritative, Freeman embarked on a great journey to lead roles in movies such as Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption, all of which he received Academy Award nominations. Though he did not win an Oscar at that point in his life, Freeman continued into excellence through many more lead roles.

Beginning in the early 1980s, Freeman played in roles for movies such as Brubaker ('80), Eyewitness ('81), Teachers,and Harry & Son ('84), Marie, and That Was Then...This Is Now ('85), Street Smart ('87), Clean And Sober ('88), Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, Lean On Me, Johnny Handsome ('89), The Bonfire of the Vanties, The Civil War ('90), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves ('91), Unforgiven, The Power of One ('92), Bopha! ('93), The Shawshank Redemption ('94), Outbreak, Se7en ('95), Chain Reaction, Moll Flanders, Cosmic Voyage ('96), Amastad, Kiss the Girls ('97), Deep Impact, Hard Rain ('98), Nurse Betty, Under Suspicion (2000), Along Came A Spider ('01), The Sum of All Fears, High Crimes ('02), Bruce Almighty, Dreamcatcher, Levity, Drug War ('03), Million Dollar Baby, The Hunting of the President, The Big Bounce ('04), An Unfinished Life, War of the Worlds, March of the Penguins, Batman Begins, Unleashed ('05), Edison Force, The Contract, Lucky Number Slevin, 10 Items or Less ('06), Evan Almighty, Feast of Love, Gone, Baby, Gone, The Bucket List ('07), Wanted, The Love Guru, The Dark Knight ('08), Prom Night In Mississippi, Thick as Thieves, The Maiden Heist, and his upcoming film Invictus ('09).

He has played more roles in movies than any other black man in film for his time (1980 to the present).

His awards he has claimed or been nominated for include, Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, The Mighty Gents (78). In 1997 Rhodes College awarded him an honorary degree. In 2003 he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to the world cinema at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 2005, Freeman won an oscar for his supporting role in the movie, Million Dollar Baby. In 2006 he attended the Cairo Film Festival as a guest of honor. And in 2008, Freeman was honored by the Kennedy Center for his incredible lifetime of film making.

As for other black men in film that could be remotely compared to the success of Freeman, I can only draw two names. Denzel Washington, and Will Smith. Both of which have come to know very prominent roles within their careers as actors.

Concluding the introduction to Morgan Freeman, I would like to say that without Morgan Freeman around to star in so many roles, who would have been the person playing "God" in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty, or who would have been the voice that narrated The March of the Penguins, etc. I doubt anyone else could have facilitated those roles in the manner in which Freeman did so well. We should all be so thankful to have been alive to see his films.