Morgan Freeman
Born: 1937-06-01 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
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. In 1992, Freeman starred alongside Clint Eastwood in the western revenge film Unforgiven; this would be the first of several collaborations with Eastwood. In 1994, he starred in the prison drama The Shawshank Redemption for which he received another Academy Award nomination. Freeman also starred in David Fincher's crime thriller Se7en (1995), and Steven Spielberg's historical drama Amistad (1997). Freeman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Clint Eastwood's 2004 sports drama Million Dollar Baby. In 2009, he received his fifth Oscar nomination for playing former South African President Nelson Mandela in Eastwood's Invictus. Freeman is also known for his performance as Lucius Fox in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012). In addition to acting, Freeman has directed the drama Bopha! (1993). He also founded film production company Revelations Entertainment with business partner Lori McCreary. He is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor, the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. For his performances in theatrical productions, he has won three Obie Awards, one of the most prestigious honors for recognizing excellence in theatre.
Filmography
2025
- Now You See Me: Now You Don't as Thaddeus Bradley
- In Our Blood ... (Executive Producer)
- The American Revolution as voice
- Number One on the Call Sheet as Self
- Clint Eastwood : la légende as Self
2024
- Gunner as Kendrick Ryker
- My Dead Friend Zoe as Dr. Cole
- How to Rob a Bank as Azeem (archive footage)
- Odysseus Returns as Narrator
- From the Balkans as (narrator)
2023
- Lioness as Secretary of State Edwin Mullins
- 57 Seconds as Anton Burrell
- The Ritual Killer as Dr. Mackles
- Life on Our Planet as Self - Narrator (voice)
- A Good Person as Daniel
- 100 Years of Warner Bros. as Self - Narrator (voice)
- The Muppets Mayhem as Morgan Freeman
- 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers as Self
2022
- The Jennifer Hudson Show as Self
- Sidney as Self
- The Minute You Wake Up Dead as Sheriff Thurmond Fowler
- Paradise Highway as Gerick
- Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend as Self (archive footage)
- Betty White: A Celebration as Self
- Ogun Óla: War is Coming ... (Producer)
- Our Universe as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Power of Chi as Narrator (voice)
2021
- Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard as Senior
- Vanquish as Damon
- Coming 2 America as Morgan Freeman
- The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain ... (Executive Producer)
- Solos as Narrator (voice)
- Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking as Self
- Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy as Self
- Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It as Self
- History's Greatest Escapes with Morgan Freeman as Self - Host
- Morgan Freeman: Breaking Barriers as Self
2020
- The Comeback Trail as Reggie Fontaine
- The Disney Family Singalong - Volume II as Self
- Meeting the Beatles in India as Narrator (voice)
- Into Nature's Wild as Narrator (voice)
2019
- Angel Has Fallen as Alan Trumbull
- Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? as Morgan Freeman (voice)
- The Poison Rose as Doc
- Brian Banks as Jerome Johnson (uncredited)
- Panama Canal in 3D a Land Divided a World United as Self
2018
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as Drosselmeyer
- America's Musical Journey as Narrator (voice)
- Die Clint Eastwood Story as Self
2017
- Going in Style as Willie Davis
- Just Getting Started as Duke
- The Words That Built America as Self - Reader: Declaration of Independence
- March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step as Narrator (English voice)
- The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman as Self - Host
- Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies as Self
- John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs as Self
2016
- Now You See Me 2 as Thaddeus Bradley
- Ben-Hur as Sheik Ilderim
- London Has Fallen as Alan Trumbull
- The C Word as Narrator (voice)
- The Story of God with Morgan Freeman as Self - Host
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- Ted 2 as Patrick Meighan
- Momentum as Senator
- Last Knights as Bartok
- JFK & LBJ: A Time for Greatness as Narrator (voice)
2014
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- Madam Secretary as Chief Justice Frawley
- Lucy as Professor Norman
- The Lego Movie as Vitruvius (voice)
- Transcendence as Joseph Tagger
- Wish Wizard as Maxwell Omni
- Island of Lemurs: Madagascar as Narrator (voice)
- Dolphin Tale 2 as Dr. Cameron McCarthy
- 5 Flights Up as Alex Carver
- We the People as Narrator (voice)
2013
- Now You See Me as Thaddeus Bradley
- Olympus Has Fallen as Alan Trumbull
- Oblivion as Beech
- Last Vegas as Archibald 'Archie' Clayton
- Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story as Self
- Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot as Self
- The Editor and The Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan as Narrator (voice)
- JFK: A President Betrayed as Narrator (voice)
2012
- The Dark Knight Rises as Fox
- The Magic of Belle Isle as Monte Wildhorn
- Ending the Knight as Self
- B.B. King: The Life of Riley as Narrator (voice)
- Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl as Self
- Echoes 'Cross the Tracks as Self
- Le frontiere dell'Astronomia - EP-7 Vite aliene nel cosmo as Narratore
2011
- Conan the Barbarian as Narrator (voice)
- Dolphin Tale as Dr. McCarthy
- Born to Be Wild as Narrator (voice)
- Breaking the Taboo as Narrator (voice)
- Clint Eastwood's West as Self
- Curiosity as Self - Narrator (voice)
2010
- RED as Joe Matheson
- Through the Wormhole as Self - Host
- The Eastwood Factor as Self - Narrator (voice)
- The 16th Man as Narrator (voice)
- The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office as Narrator (voice)
2009
- 30 for 30
- Invictus as Nelson Mandela
- The Jay Leno Show as Self
- The Maiden Heist as Charles Peterson
- Thick as Thieves as Keith Ripley
- The People Speak as Self
- Live from Studio Five as Self
- Prom Night in Mississippi as Narrator (voice)
2008
- The Dark Knight as Lucius Fox
- Wanted as Sloan
- A Raisin in the Sun as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- Where the Water Meets the Sky
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
- The Bucket List as Carter Chambers
- Gone Baby Gone as Jack Doyle
- Evan Almighty as God
- Feast of Love as Harry Stevenson
- AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition as Self
- All About Us as Self
2006
- The Contract as Frank Carden
- Lucky Number Slevin as The Boss
- 10 Items or Less as 'Him'
- The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits as Self
- The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays as Jaques (segment "As You Like It")
- Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters as Self
- Greasy Rider
2005
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- Batman Begins as Lucius Fox
- War of the Worlds as Narrator (voice)
- Unleashed as Sam
- The Reichen Show as Self - Guest
- An Unfinished Life as Mitch Bradley
- Edison as Ashford
- Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon as Neil Armstrong (voice)
- March of the Penguins as Narrator
- Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast as Self
- Blues Divas as Self
- Nos Bastidores de Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- Slavery and the Making of America as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Born to Fight as Self
- James Lipton Takes on Three as Self
2004
- Million Dollar Baby as Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris
- The Big Bounce as Walter Crewes
- America Beyond the Color Line as Self
- Genius. A Night for Ray Charles as Self
- The Hunting of the President as Narrator (voice)
- Survivors of the Shoah: Visual History Foundation
2003
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
- Bruce Almighty as God
- Levity as Miles Evans
- Dreamcatcher as Col. Abraham Curtis
- Guilty by Association as Lt. Redding
- Declaration of Independence as Self
2002
- The Sum of All Fears as DCI William Cabot
- Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven' as Self
- High Crimes as Charlie Grimes
- All on Accounta Pullin' a Trigger as Self
- Partners of the Heart as Narrator (voice)
2001
- Along Came a Spider as Alex Cross
- Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature as Self
2000
- Under Suspicion as Captain Victor Benezet
- Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows as Narrator (voice)
- Nurse Betty as Charlie
1999
- Mutiny ... (Executive Producer)
- Mark Twain Prize as Self
- Stephen King: Shining in the Dark as Self
1998
- Deep Impact as President Tom Beck
- Hard Rain as Jim
- Parkinson as Self
- Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist as Self
1997
- The View as Self
- Kiss the Girls as Det. Alex Cross
- The Chris Rock Show
- The Long Way Home as Narrator (voice)
- Amistad as Theodore Joadson
- The Making of Se7en as Self
1996
- The Daily Show as Self
- Chain Reaction as Paul Shannon
- Moll Flanders as Hibble
- Cosmic Voyage as Narrator (voice)
- Inside the White House as Narrator (voice)
- Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial as Edward G. Robinson
1994
- The Shawshank Redemption as Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
- Inside the Actors Studio as Self
1993
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- Bopha! ... (Director)
1992
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- Unforgiven as Ned Logan
- HBO First Look
- The Power of One as Geel Piet
- Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven' as Self
- Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories as Narrator (voice)
1991
- Pebble Mill as Self
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as Azeem
- Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie as Self
- The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry as Narrator (voice)
- The True Story of Glory Continues as Narrator (voice)
1990
- The Bonfire of the Vanities as Judge Leonard White
- The Civil War as Frederick Douglass
- Night of 100 Stars III as Self
- The Earth Day Special as Walter Samson
- Rabbit Ears - The Savior is Born as Narrator (voice)
- Follow the Drinking Gourd as Narrator (voice)
1989
- Lean On Me as Principal Joe Clark
- Glory as Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins
- Driving Miss Daisy as Hoke Colburn
- Johnny Handsome as Lt. A.Z. Drones
1988
- American Experience as Narrator (voice)
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark
- Clinton and Nadine as Dorsey Pratt
- Clean and Sober as Craig
1987
- Street Smart as Leo "Fast Black" Smalls, Jr.
- Fight for Life as Dr. Sherard
1986
- American Masters as Narrator (voice)
- Resting Place as Luther Johnson
1985
- The Twilight Zone as Tony (segment "Dealer's Choice")
- That Was Then... This Is Now as Charlie Woods
- Marie: A True Story as Charles Traughber
- The Atlanta Child Murders as Ben Shelter
- The Execution of Raymond Graham as Warden Pratt
- The Gospel at Colonus as Messenger
1984
- Goldene Kamera as Self
- Teachers as Lewis
- Harry & Son as Siemanowski
1981
- Death of a Prophet as Malcolm X
- Eyewitness as Lieutenant Black
- The Marva Collins Story as Clarence Collins
1979
- CBS News Sunday Morning as Self
- Hollow Image as Sweet Talk
1978
- The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as Uncle Hammer
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as Uncle Hammer
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1974
- Out to Lunch as Self / Croupier
- Spidey Super Stories as Count Dracula
- Energy Crisis as Self
1973
- Blade as Chris
- The American Film Institute Salute to ... as Self
1971
- Great Performances as Messenger
- The Electric Company as Mad Scientist
- Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow! as Afro
1970
1968
- 60 Minutes as Self
- Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? as Grand Central Commuter (uncredited)
1966
- A Man Called Adam as Party Guest (uncredited)
1965
- The Pawnbroker as Man on Street (Uncredited)
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Performer
1953
- The Oscars as Self - Presenter
1952
- Today as Self
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Clarence
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter