July 21, 2008
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
Sydney Bessler
His tranquil, reserved and caring personality, the perfect voice for narrating, his true passion for acting, and the skill to play characters that range from an assassin to God make Morgan Freeman a true actor.“Freeman has been a true blessing to the entertainment industry,” says director Christopher Nolan.
Freeman was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tenn. where he lived with his paternal grandparents. Although he had been acting since he was 8-years-old, his professional acting career began in the early ‘60s. During that time, Freeman lived in New York, L.A., and San Francisco where he worked as a dancer, transcript clerk, movie extra, opera singer, and touring actor with numerous off-Broadway plays.
He received his first supporting actor role in 1980, in the film “Burbank”. From there his career took off. Freeman appeared in 54 films throughout his lifetime. Four more have yet to hit movie theaters.
Because of his talent and success, Freeman got many prestigious nominations and awards. His first nomination was for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1987 movie “Street Smart". His first win was an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the 2004 movie "Million Dollar Baby”. He also won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters in 2007 and the Outstanding Contribution to Film and TV at the Screen Nation Film and TV Awards that same year.
Freeman,71, died in his sleep last night, July 20, 2008 at his home in Charleston, Miss. His wife Myrna Colley-Lee, his sons Alfonso and Saifoulaye, and his daughters Deena and Morgana will dearly miss him. They are planning the small family funeral in his hometown of Charleston, as a celebration of his accomplished life.
