Morgan Freeman is one of the most famous and popular names in the world of cinema. The dream, however, took many decades to come true. The 84-year old had to go through difficult times to arrive where he is right now.
The son of a teacher and a barber, Freeman was Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1937. He discovered his passion for acting by pure chance: at school, he had a crush on a girl and, in a typical pre-teen prank, pulled her chair, causing her classmate to fall to the floor.
The punishment imposed by the school was that Morgan, who was then a boy of around 12, had to participate in the drama contest. He had always loved watching movies and spent the little money he had to go to the cinema, but it was there that he discovered his passion for acting. And he was indeed very talented: he even won a prize at school for his performance.
However, there was another dream that led young boy to follow an alternative path. When he left school in 1955, he refused a partial scholarship to an art school and decided to enlist in the American Air Force. The idea of flying airplanes, especially in a war setting, was too strong to give up. But he could only get jobs as a mechanic and technician, jobs that kept him on the ground. Frustrated with his military experiences, he decided to pursue a career in acting.
When he moved to Los Angeles things did not go well. He took some classes but could find almost no work. New York followed, on the other side of the USA, where she also did not find success during the first years, and Freeman became a homeless man. He survived by eating “old doughnuts” on the streets, as he has already revealed in some interviews. In between, he accumulated other jobs: he drove taxis, drove trucks, was a typist, and accepted to do odd jobs that offered him a way to survive.
After a while, he landed a role in the Broadway show “Hello, Dolly!” as well as regular appearances on “The Electric Company” among other plays. It was not until the 1980s and especially the 1990s, when Freeman was already in his mid 40s, that the actor established himself as a professional in the Hollywood industry.
His first film, “The Gates of Hell,” which hit theaters in 1980, did not change his life. But “New York, Rampant City,” which came out in 1987, was a big breakthrough. It was the opportunity he had been waiting for for so many year, and he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It was the role that launched his career.
Two years later, he gained even more prominence with “Miss Daisy,” a role that earned him another Oscar nomination (and also a Golden Globe). This was followed by appearances in films such as “Glory Time”, “Unforgivable”, “Shawshank Convicts”, “Seven – 7 Deadly Sins”, “Amistad”, “Bruce the Almighty”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Invictus” and Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy.
His latest film, ”Vanquish”, is an action thriller directed by George Gallo, and he has a special appearance in the latest season of “The Kominsky Method,” a Netflix comedy that returned with the final eight episodes at the end of May. Today, Morgan Freeman is one of the world’s most renowned actors. And he has a unique voice.
