Early Life
Freeman grew up in Mississippi and served in the U.S. Air Force before pursuing acting, performing in theater and on the children's television series The Electric Company.
Career
He earned an Oscar nomination for Street Smart (1987), and further nominations for Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby (2004). Other notable roles include Glory, Se7en, Invictus (as Nelson Mandela) and God in Bruce Almighty, and he narrated the documentary March of the Penguins (2005).
Legacy
Freeman received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2008 and the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2012.
Sources and further reading
Last updated: 2026-09-24