It turns out that Morgan Freeman’s first big break in show business was just kid’s stuff. After working in a few unmemorable productions, Freeman caught on with PBS’s The Electric Company, a show from the Children’s Television Workshop designed to teach basic reading skills to kids from 7 to 10 years old. The gig ran for six seasons and 780 episodes.
He next grabbed attention in 1980 with performances in Brubaker with Robert Redford and TV movie Attica, he broke out in Street Smart, which earned him the first of five Academy Award nominations. Freeman received Best Actor nominations for Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) before winning for his Best Supporting Actor role in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004). He also received a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictius (2009).
While Freeman’s career may have been slow to start, once he hit the big time it developed an unbelievable momentum that is still going. The now 86-year-old Memphis, Tennessee native made 12 films in the 80s, 14 in the 90s, 29 in the 2000s and 30 in the 2010s.
Along that remarkable path, Freeman has worked with a who’s who of directors, including Brian De Palma (The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990), David Fincher (Se7en, 1995), Steven Spielberg (Amistad, 1997, and War of the Worlds, 2005), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy) and Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, 1992, Million Dollar Baby, 2004, and Invictus (2009).
And his co-stars, well there are too many to list, but the highlights include Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Tandy, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro … Well, you get where we’re going with this.
And on top of the film career, Freeman also found time for work in TV, theater and who hasn’t heard his soothing voice narrating documentaries from March of the Penguins to Our Universe?
“I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you,” Freeman once said. “But if you keep scrambling, if you keep going, some will always give you a hand, Always. But you gotta keep dancing, you gotta keep moving.”
He’s still dancing and his next film, 57 Seconds with Josh Hutcherson is schedule to be in theaters later this month.
So put on your dancing shoes and take a look at the highlights of Freeman’s career in pictures.
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‘The Electric Company’ (1971-’77)
From left: child, Judy Graubart, Morgan Freeman, Hattie Winston, Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby, 1971-77.
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‘Attica’ (1980)
Freeman with David Harris.
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‘Brubaker’ (1980)
Freeman with Robert Redford.
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‘The Marva Collings Story’ (1981)
Freeman with Cicely Tyson.
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‘That Was Then … This Is Now’ (1985)
Freeman with Emilio Estevez, left, and Craig Sheffer.
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‘Resting Place’ (1986)
Freeman with CCH Pounder.
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‘Street Smart’ (1987)
Freeman with Christopher Reeve.
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‘Clean and Sober’ (1988)
Freeman with Michael Keaton.
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‘Driving Miss Daisy’ (1989)
Freeman with Jessica Tandy.
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‘Glory’ (1989)
Freeman with Denzel Washington.
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‘Lean On Me’ (1989)
Freeman as inner city school principal Joe Louis Clark.
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‘Johnny Handsome’ (1989)
Freeman with Forest Whitaker.
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‘Bonfires of the Vanities’ (1990)
Freeman with, from left, Saul Rubinek, Tom Hanks and Kevin Dunn.
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‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991)
Freeman with Kevin Costner.
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‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Freeman with Jaimz Woolvett and Clint Eastwood.
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‘The Power of One’ (1992)
Freeman with Guy Witcher.
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‘Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)
Freeman with Tim Robbins
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‘Outbreak’ (1995)
Freeman with Dustin Hoffman.
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‘Se7en’ (1995)
Freeman with Brad Pitt.
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‘Chain Reaction’ (1996)
Freeman with Keanu Reeves.
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‘Moll Flanders’ (1996)
Freeman with Robin Wright Penn.
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‘Amistad’ (1997)
Freeman with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew McConaughey.
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‘Kiss the Girls’ (1997)
Freeman with Ashley Judd.
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‘Deep Impact’ (1998)
Freeman with Tea Leoni.
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‘Hard Rain’ (1998)
Freeman with Christian Slater.
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‘Nurse Betty’ (2000)
Freeman with Renee Zellweger.
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‘Under Suspicion’ (2000)
Freeman with Gene Hackman.
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‘Along Came A Spider’ (2001)
Freeman with Monica Potter.
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‘The Sum of All Fears’ (2002)
Freeman with Ben Affleck.
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‘High Crimes’ (2002)
Freeman with Ashley Judd and Adam Scott.
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‘Bruce Almighty’ (2003)
Freeman with Jim Carrey.
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‘Dreamcatcher’ (2003)
Freeman as Col. Abraham Curtis.
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‘Levity’ (2003)
Freeman with Billy Bob Thornton.
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‘The Big Bounce’ (2004)
Freeman with Owen Wilson.
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‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004)
Freeman with Jay Baruchel.
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‘An Unfinished Life’ (2005)
Freeman with Robert Redford.
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‘Batman Begins’ (2005)
Freeman with Christian Bale.
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‘Edison’ (2005)
Freeman with Justin Timberlake.
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‘March of the Penguins’ (2005)
Freeman was one of the narrators for the Oscar-winning documentary feature.
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‘Unleashed’ (2005)
Freeman with Jet Li, Morgan Freeman.
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’10 Items or Less’ (2006)
Freeman with Paz Vega.
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‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006)
Freeman with Josh Hartnett.
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‘Evan Almighty’ (2007)
Freeman with Steve Carell.
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‘Feast of Love’ (2007)
Freeman with Greg Kinnear.
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‘Gone Baby Gone’ (2007)
Freeman with Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan.
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‘The Bucket List’ (2007)
Freeman with Jack Nicholson.
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‘Wanted’ (2008)
Freeman with Common.
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‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
Freeman with Christian Bale.
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‘The Maiden Heist’ (2008)
From left, William H. Macy, Freeman and Christopher Walken.
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‘Invictus’ (2009)
Freeman with Matt Damon.
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‘Red’ (2010)
Freeman with John Malkovich.
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‘Dolphin Tale’ (2011)
From left, Nathan Gamble, Freeman, Austin Highsmith, Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Harry Connick Jr.
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‘The Magic of Belle Isle’ (2012)
Freeman with Virginia Madsen.
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‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012)
Freeman with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
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‘Olympus Has Fallen’ (2013)
Freeman with Angela Bassett.
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‘Oblivion’ (2013)
Freeman with Zoe Bell and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
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‘Now You See Me’ (2013)
Freeman as former magician Thaddeus Bradley.
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‘Last Vegas’ (2013)
From left, Robert DeNiro, Freeman and Kevin Kline.
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‘The Lego Movie’ (2014)
Freeman was the voice of Vitruvius.
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‘Transcendence’ (2014)
Freeman with Cillian Murphy and Rebecca Hall.
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‘Lucy’ (2014)
Freeman with Scarlett Johansson.
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‘Dolphin Tale 2’ (2014)
Freeman with Ashley Judd.
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‘5 Flights Up’ (2014)
Freeman with Diane Keaton.
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‘Last Knights’ (2015)
Freeman with Clive Owen, 2015.
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‘London Has Fallen’ (2015)
Freeman with Melissa Leo.
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‘Now You See Me 2’ (2016)
Freeman reprises his role as Thaddeus Bradley.
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‘Ben-Hur’ (2016)
Freeman with Jack Huston.
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‘Going in Style’ (2017)
From left, Michael Caine, Freeman, Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret.
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‘Just Getting Started’ (2017)
Freeman with Joe Pantoliano and George Wallace.
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”The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018)
Freeman as Drosselmeyer.
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‘The Poison Rose’ (2019)
Freeman as Doc.
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‘Angel Has Fallen’ (2019)
Freeman with Gerard Butler.
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‘The Comeback Trail’ (2020)
Freeman with Eddie Griffin.
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‘Vanquish’ (2021)
Freeman plays retired disabled cop Damon.
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‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ (2021)
Freeman as head of security Michael Bryce Sr.
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‘Paradise Highway’ (2022)
Freeman with Cameron Monaghan.
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‘The Minute You Wake Up Dead’ (2022)
Freeman as small-town Mississippi sheriff Thurmond Fowler.
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‘The Ritual Killer’ (2023)
Freeman with Cole Hauser.
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‘A Good Person’ (2023)
Freeman with Celeste O’Connor.
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’57 Seconds’ (2023)
Freeman with Josh Hutcherson with a release date of Sept. 29.
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