With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular
American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in
modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee,
to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a
barber. The young Freeman attended Los Angeles City College before
serving several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic between 1955
and 1959. His first dramatic arts exposure was on the stage including
appearing in an all-African American production of the exuberant
musical Hello, Dolly!.
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 two
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 Odets' drama The Country Girl,
directed by Mike Nichols.
Freeman first appeared on TV screens as several characters including
"Easy Reader", "Mel Mounds" and "Count Dracula" on the Children's
Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) show
The Electric Company (1971).
He then moved into feature film with another children's adventure,
Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow! (1971).
Next, there was a small role in the thriller
Blade - Der Kontrabulle (1973); then he played Casca in
Julius Caesar (1979) and
the title role in
Coriolanus (1979). Regular
work was coming in for the talented Freeman and he appeared in the
prison dramas Attica - Revolte hinter Gittern (1980) and
Brubaker (1980),
Der Augenzeuge (1981), and portrayed the
final 24 hours of slain Malcolm X in
Death of a Prophet (1981).
For most of the 1980s, Freeman continued to contribute decent enough
performances in films that fluctuated in their quality. However, he
really stood out, scoring an Oscar nomination as a merciless hoodlum in
Glitzernder Asphalt (1987) and, then, he
dazzled audiences and pulled a second Oscar nomination in the film
version of
Miss Daisy und ihr Chauffeur (1989)
opposite Jessica Tandy. The same year,
Freeman teamed up with youthful
Matthew Broderick and fiery
Denzel Washington in the epic Civil
War drama Glory (1989) about freed slaves
being recruited to form the first all-African American fighting
brigade.
His star continued to rise, and the 1990s kicked off strongly with
roles in
Fegefeuer der Eitelkeiten (1990),
Robin Hood - König der Diebe (1991),
and Im Glanz der Sonne (1992).
Freeman's next role was as gunman Ned Logan, wooed out of retirement by
friend William Munny to avenge several prostitutes in the wild west
town of Big Whiskey in
Clint Eastwood's de-mythologized
western Erbarmungslos (1992). The film
was a sh and scored an acting Oscar for
Gene Hackman, a directing Oscar for
Eastwood, and the Oscar for best picture. In 1993, Freeman made his
directorial debut on Bopha! - Kampf um Freiheit (1993) and
soon after formed his production company, Revelations Entertainment.
More strong scripts came in, and Freeman was back behind bars depicting
a knowledgeable inmate (and obtaining his third Oscar nomination),
befriending falsely accused banker
Tim Robbins in
Die Verurteilten (1994).
He was then back out hunting a religious serial killer in
Sieben (1995), starred alongside
Keanu Reeves in
Außer Kontrolle (1996), and was
pursuing another serial murderer in
...Denn zum küssen sind sie da (1997).
Further praise followed for his role in the slave tale of
Amistad - Das Sklavenschiff (1997), he was a worried US
President facing Armageddon from above in
Deep Impact (1998), appeared in
Neil LaBute's black comedy
Nurse Betty (2000), and reprised his
role as Alex Cross in
Im Netz der Spinne (2001).
Now highly popular, he was much in demand with cinema audiences, and he
co-starred in the terrorist drama
Der Anschlag (2002),
was a military officer in the
Stephen King-inspired
Dreamcatcher (2003), gave divine
guidance as God to Jim Carrey in
Bruce Allmächtig (2003), and played
a minor role in the comedy
Hawaii Crime Story (2004).
2005 was a huge year for Freeman. First, he he teamed up with good
friend Clint Eastwood to appear
in the drama,
Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Freeman's on-screen performance is simply world-class as ex-prize
fighter Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris, who works in a run-down boxing gym
alongside grizzled trainer Frankie Dunn, as the two work together to
hone the skills of never-say-die female boxer
Hilary Swank. Freeman received his fourth
Oscar nomination and, finally, impressed the Academy's judges enough to
win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. He also
narrated Steven Spielberg's
Krieg der Welten (2005) and
appeared in Batman Begins (2005) as
Lucius Fox, a valuable ally of
Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman for
director Christopher Nolan.
Freeman would reprise his role in the two sequels of the
record-breaking, genre-redefining trilogy.
Roles in tentpoles and indies followed; highlights include his role as
a crime boss in
Lucky Number Slevin (2006), a
second go-round as God in
Evan Allmächtig (2007) with
Steve Carell taking over for
Jim Carrey, and a supporting role in
Ben Affleck's directorial debut,
Gone Baby Gone - Kein Kinderspiel (2007). He
co-starred with Jack Nicholson in
the breakout hit
Das Beste kommt zum Schluss (2007) in 2007,
and followed that up with another box-office success,
Wanted (2008), then segued into the second
Batman film,
The Dark Knight (2008).
In 2009, he reunited with Eastwood to star in the director's true-life
drama Invictus - Unbezwungen (2009), on which Freeman
also served as an executive producer. 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.
Recently, Freeman appeared in R.E.D. - Älter. Härter. Besser. (2010), a
surprise box-office hit; he narrated the
Conan (2011)
remake, starred in Rob Reiner's
The Magic of Belle Isle - Ein verzauberter Sommer (2012);
and capped the Batman trilogy with
The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Freeman has several films upcoming, including the thriller
Die Unfassbaren - Now You See Me (2013), under
the direction of Louis Leterrier, and
the science fiction actioner
Oblivion (2013), in which he stars
with Tom Cruise.
