Morgan Freeman has arguably made his way to being one of the most respected figures in modern U.S. cinema, always able to evoke enormous praise from either critics or audience with his brilliant portrayal in every role he takes that covers various ranges of human characters. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 1, 1937, he came from a working class family that tried hard to maintain the lives of all the members, including six children of five boys and a girl. His parents then decided to head to Chicago, Illinois, to look for better opportunities in the factories of the city to cover their increasing living costs and thus put him in the care of his grandparents in Charleston, Mississippi. While spending most of his early life there regularly going to the Windy City every summer to visit his mother and father, the boy grew up as a reluctant student who did not enjoy school time but was strongly taken up by the extra-curricular programs of the school, especially music and theater, even later the same great interest in the cinematic field flourished.
It was not until the late 1950s that Morgan started to focus entirely on building an acting career, which he began after a five-year period in the United States. Air Force was preceded by a role at Los Angeles City College as a transcript clerk where he was permitted to take free acting, dancing and singing lessons. Unfortunately, it was actually difficult to obtain good performing works because the struggling actor only managed to be an extra in films such as “The Pawnbroker” (1964) and “A Man Called Adam” (1966) in addition to earning minor parts in several small plays. He finally passed an audition for a role in an off-Broadway production of “The Nigger Lovers” (1967) and then in an all-black Broadway version of “Hello Dolly!” held at the St. James Theatre in 1968, refusing to give up and continuing to strive for chance. In the 1970s, things became slightly better as he was able to nab a few works in both theatrical and screen features, even earning a Tony Award nomination for the category of Actor (Featured Role-Play) through The Mighty Gents in 1978.
“Brubaker”Brubaker”Eyewitness”Eyewitness”Teachers”Teachers”Marie”Marie (1985). Further to the 1987 film Jerry Schatzberg’s engaging crime drama entitled “Street Smart” he tirelessly poured down all his energy and abilities to play an uncomfortable role as a shrewd, vicious pimp who threatens to ruin the life of Christopher Reeve’s Manhattan journalist. The outcome was a stunningly convincing portrayal that not only generated rave reviews from the critics, but also prompted AMPAS at the 1988 Academy Awards to award him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role category. The man consequently changed from an obscure actor to a widely recognized one, unmistakably rising to national prominence, being the new center of attention with stacks of movie scripts waiting to be picked up and read for sure.
“Driving Miss Daisy”Driving Miss Daisy (1989). This charismatic actor delightfully did not walk home empty handed, although he failed to acquire the honor, as he had previously received a Golden Globe Award for winning Best Performance in the same year by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical category. The accomplishment persisted in 1995 when, despite his involvement in “The Shawshank Redemption” he once again received a nomination at both events plus the coveted Screen Actors Guild Awards (1994). For this success, for the remainder of the 1990s, the journey was very easy for him to undergo, judging by the luxurious film ventures he entered, including “Se7en” (1995), “Kiss the Girls” (1997), and “Deep Impact” (1998), all domestically grossing over 60 million U.S. dollars.