Al Freeman Jr.
Born: 1934-03-21 in San Antonio, Texas, USA
Died: 2012-08-09
Known For: Acting
Biography
Al Freeman, Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor and director. Freeman made appearances in many films, such as My Sweet Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, and television series such as The Cosby Show, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street and The Edge of Night. He is mostly recognized for his portrayal of Police Captain Ed Hall on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, a role he played from 1972 through 1985, with recurring roles in 1988 and 2000. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for that role, the first African-American actor to be so honored. He left the show briefly to appear in the network's controversial sitcom Hot L Baltimore. During that period, "Ed" was played by another actor, Arthur Pendleton. He was also a director of One Life to Live, and was one of the first, if not the first, African-Americans to direct a soap opera. After leaving One Life to Live, Freeman appeared in the motion picture Down in the Delta. His Broadway theatre credits include Look to the Lilies, Blues for Mister Charlie, and Medea. His portrayal of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad in the motion picture Malcolm X earned him the 1995 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Coincidently, he had previously played Malcolm X in the 1979 miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations. Freeman also taught acting as a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Description above from the Wikipedia article Al Freeman, Jr., licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
1998
- Down in the Delta as Earl Sinclair
1996
1994
- Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker as Old Johnson Whittaker
1993
- Homicide: Life on the Street as Deputy Commissioner James Harris
- Boy Meets Girl
1992
- Malcolm X as Elijah Muhammad
1990
- Law & Order as Reverend Thayer
1989
- Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice as Narrator (voice)
1988
- Seven Hours to Judgment as Danny Larwin
1985
- Perry Mason Returns as Lt. Cooper
1984
- The Cosby Show as Coach Ernie Scott
1979
- Roots: The Next Generations as Malcolm X
1978
- King as Damon Lockwood
1976
- Countdown at Kusini ... (Screenplay)
1975
1973
- Kojak as Donald Mosher
1971
- A Fable as The Leader
1970
- The Chicago Conspiracy Trial
- My Sweet Charlie as Charles Roberts
1969
- Castle Keep as Pvt. Allistair Piersall Benjamin
- The Lost Man as Dennis Lawrence
1968
- The Detective as Robbie Loughlin
- The Mod Squad
- The World Premiere of 'Finian's Rainbow' as Self
- One Life to Live as Capt. Ed Hall
- Finian's Rainbow as Howard
1967
1966
- Dutchman as Clay
- For Pete's Sake as Harvey
1965
- The F.B.I. as Alan Harmon
1964
- Ensign Pulver as Taru
- The Troublemaker as Intern
- Black Like Me as Thomas Newcomb
1961
- The Mike Douglas Show as Self - Co-Host
- The Defenders as Charlton White
- Sniper's Ridge as Medic Gwathney
1960
- This Rebel Breed as Satchel
1959
- Adventures in Paradise as Para
- The DuPont Show with June Allyson as Taxi Man
1958
- Torpedo Run as Sam Baker
- The Broken Mask as George
1955
- The Millionaire as Houseboy