Age: 89
male
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.
Area 51 is a 2022 American science fiction film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. It is based on the US Air Force base of the same name. The film stars Vin Diesel, Margot Robbie, Morgan Freeman, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Harbour, Lupita Nyong'o, Tom Hardy, and Milla Jovovich. It chronicles the story of Walter Orion (Diesel), a veteran officer who disobeys orders to kill his daughter, Zoë, when she enters Area 51. When UFOs appear, Walter and his wife, Diana, must protect Zoë and escape the base. Area 51 premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on June 15th, 2022 and was released on July 6th; it received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its emotion, Nolan's direction, screenplay, visual effects, musical score, and Diesel, Robbie, Freeman, Harbour, and Jovovich's performances, though criticism was aimed at its complex story and its perceived lack of ambition. It also attained a strong cult following, grossing $79 million worldwide against its $1.19 million budget. After its release, Area 51 was later critically reevaluated and is now widely considered Nolan's magnum opus and one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, especially for its groundbreaking effects and for reassessing Diesel's acting. It was also selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by Library of Congress, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2027.
