Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman won the Academy Award as best supporting actor for his role as a world-weary ex-boxer in the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby. Freeman kicked around TV and movies during the 1970s and '80s as a reliable supporting character, then became a familiar face in the movies after his Oscar-nominated role in 1987's Street Smart. He was nominated again for Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and received much critical attention for The Unforgiven (1992, with Clint Eastwood), The Shawshank Redemption (1994, with Tim Robbins) and Se7en (1995, with Brad Pitt). Freeman has the kind of face that audiences trust, and he is known for bringing a certain gravitas to the table, often portraying authority figures like the U.S. president in Deep Impact (1998) and God in Bruce Almighty (2003, with Jim Carrey). In 2005 he finally won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, again directed by Eastwood and co-starring Hilary Swank. Freeman's other film credits include Chain Reaction (1996, with Keanu Reeves), and Amistad (1997, directed by Steven Spielberg).

Extra credit: Million Dollar Baby also won the Academy Award as the best film of 2004... Freeman is a founding partner in the film production company Revelations Entertainment... In 1993 he directed Bopha!, a feature film set in South Africa... Freeman was a regular on the 1970s educational show The Electric Company.