Morgan Freeman Biography

news-detailsAlways capable to evoke huge praise from either critics or audience with his brilliant portrayal in every role he takes that covers diverse range of human characters, Morgan Freeman arguably has made his way to be one of the most respected figures in modern U.S. cinema. Born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, he came from a working class family which tried hard to maintain the life of the whole members that eventually included six children of five boys and a girl. In order to cover their increasing living cost, his parents then concluded to head for Chicago, Illinois to seek better opportunity in the city's factories and so put him under the care of his grandparents in Charleston, Mississippi. Spent most of his early life there while regularly went to the Windy City every summer to visit his mom and dad, the boy grew up as a reluctant student who did not enjoy school-time yet was heavily taken by the school's extra-curricular programs, particularly music and theater, even later also flourished the same great interest in cinematic field.

It was not until the late 1950s that Morgan began to put full concentration in establishing an acting career, which he commenced after a five-year stint in U.S. Air Force followed by a job as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles City College where he was allowed to attend acting, dancing and singing classes for free. Unfortunately, good performing works were indeed hard to obtain since the struggling actor only managed to be an extra in films namely "The Pawnbroker" (1964) and "A Man Called Adam" (1966) besides earned minor parts in several small plays. Refused to give up and kept striving for chance, he finally passed an audition for a role in an off-Broadway production of "The Nigger Lovers" (1967) then in an all-black Broadway version of "Hello Dolly!" held at St. James Theatre by 1968. Things became slightly better in the '70s as he was able to nab a few works in both theatrical and screen features, even earned a Tony Award nomination for Actor (Featured Role-Play) category in 1978 through "The Mighty Gents."

Slowly but sure, Morgan persistently built his path in film industry upon entering the eighties through a series of fine enactments, including in "Brubaker" (1980), "Eyewitness" (1981), "Teachers" (1994), and "Marie" (1985). Moved further to film Jerry Schatzberg's 1987 engaging crime drama entitled "Street Smart", he tirelessly poured down all his energy and skills to play an unsympathetic role of a shrewd, vicious pimp who threatens to ruin the life of a Manhattan journalist acted by Christopher Reeve. The result was a stunningly convincing portrayal which not only generated rave reviews from the critics, but also prompted AMPAS to grant him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role category at the 1988 Academy Awards. Unmistakably rose to national prominence, the man consequently transformed from an obscure actor to a widely recognized one, being the new center of attention with piles of film scripts waiting to be picked up and read for sure.

Much to people's amazement, Morgan again struck hard in 1990 when his name was included in the list of Oscar nominees that year, this time in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role for his outstanding performance opposite Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). Though he failed to acquire the honor, this charismatic actor delightfully did not walk home empty handed as he had earlier been presented a Golden Globe Award for winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical category in the same year. The success still continued in 1995 for he once more scored a nomination at both events plus that of prestigious Screen Actors Guild Awards through his role in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994). With this attainment, the road was really easy for him to undergo for the rest of 1990s judging from the lavish film projects he joined which included "Se7en" (1995), "Kiss the Girls" (1997), and "Deep Impact" (1998), all grossed over 60 million U.S dollar domestically.

Already became one of celebrated leading actors by the turn of the century, Morgan apparently was more attached to thriller movies in the early period of 2000s as he continuously appeared in such pictures, like "Along Came a Spider" (2001), "High Crimes" (2002), and "Levity" (2003) although he also took part in comedies as seen in "Bruce Almighty" (2003) plus "The Big Bounce" (2004). Afterwards crossed to drama to assist determined Hilary Swank reaching her dream of becoming a successful boxer in "Million Dollar Baby" (2005), he once again stunned critics and the Academy, leading him to secure his fourth Oscar nomination coupled with Golden Globes and Screen Actors nods. It later gloriously turned out to be the highlight of his career when he ultimately won the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role at the 11th Screen Actors Guild Awards and notably, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the 77th Annual Academy Awards, both in 2005.

Running his career smoothly without losing his knack and sharpness in acting, Morgan kept shining in 2005 through the well-known pictures of "Unleashed" also "An Unfinished Life", and particularly the box-office hit "Batman Begins." Next joined the star-studded cast of "Lucky Number Slevin" (2006), he also was spotted in "10 Items or Less" during the same year followed by "Evan Almighty" and "Feast of Love" in 2007. Much more stints were secured afterwards as he got cast in no less than seven film titles for 2008 releases, among others are "The Bucket List", "mWanted (2008)%", and notably "The Dark Knight", the highly-anticipated sequel to "Batman Begins." The hectic schedule still marks his path in the year after, finding him taking part in movies like "The Last Full Measure", "The Human Factor", and "Rendezvous with Rama" while producing both "Remembering Venice" and "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle."

As for his private life, Morgan first married Jeanette Adair Bradshaw on October 22, 1967, but the knot sadly did not last long for they eventually decided to split by 1979, much to the dismal of their two sons, Alphonse and Saifoulaye. Nevertheless, he was quick to flourish another love upon meeting a costume designer named Myrna Colley-Lee and thus held his second marriage by June 16, 1984. The couple later happily welcomed their daughter, Morgana, who became the sixth member of the family after Morgan adopted his first wife's daughter, Deena.