Morgan Freeman

Director & actor · born 1 June 1937 · Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. Noted for his distinctive deep voice, Freeman is known for his various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman was raised in Mississippi where he began acting in school plays. He studied theatre arts in Los Angeles and appeared in stage productions in his early career. He rose to fame in the 1970s for his role in the children's television series The Electric Company. Freeman then appeared in the Shakespearean plays Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, the former of which earned him an Obie Award. His breakout role was in Street Smart (1987), playing a hustler, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He achieved further stardom in Glory, the biographical drama Lean on Me, and comedy-drama Driving Miss Daisy (all 1989), the latter of which garnered him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Where to start: The Shawshank Redemption (1994).