Morgan Freeman is an African American actor and narrator. The movies you will know him best for are largely dependent on your age, for many, he will be most recognizable for playing God in ‘Bruce Almighty’. Others will know him for his more serious roles, in blockbusters such as ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Batman Begins’.
Check out these fun facts and see if you can find something you didn’t already know about Morgan Freeman.
Interesting Early Life Facts
On June 1, 1937, Morgan Freeman’s life officially began in Memphis, Tennessee. His parents, Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber, and Mayme Edna Freeman, a teacher, welcomed him into the family as the fourth of their eventual six children. Since Morgan Freeman is known for keeping his early years very quiet, not much is known about them. We do, however, know some interesting trivia about Morgan Freeman’s early life.
1. As he was born on June 1 1937, this makes Morgan Freeman a Gemini. Those born under this air sign are often extremely sociable and love to party, Freeman however has long since removed himself from the public eye and in fact, outside of his work likes to keep to himself. At age 83, we think he’s earned himself a break from the spotlight!
2.Morgan Freeman’s middle name is Porterfield, his full name is actually Morgan Porterfield Freeman Jr, he is named after his father.
3.In his early years Morgan Freeman’s family moved around a lot, in the space of around six years he had lived in Chicago, Nashville, and Tennessee, before settling in Greenwood, Mississippi.
4.Although many have looked, it is impossible to find a baby picture of Morgan Freeman. He has said himself that one does not exist!
5.As a child, Morgan Freeman loved to go to the movies, at the time, a movie ticket cost 12 cents. So he used to find and sell milk, soda and beer bottles for a few cents and was able to make enough money to go to the movies pretty often!
Cool Career Facts
For Morgan Freeman, career was always very important to him and he always had a lot of ambition. Although we know now that the actor was destined to become a star, it didn’t always seem like it was going to go his way. Check out these fun facts about Morgan Freeman’s acting career to see what we mean!
6.Long before ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, Morgan Freeman’s first experience as an actor was actually his penance for misbehaving at school. His teachers decided he should take part in the school’s drama competition, little did they know he was a total natural and he won the contest!
7.Freeman was later offered a scholarship to study drama at the Jackson State University, but he turned it down. Instead, he joined the US Air Force, serving from 1955 to 1959, before heading to LA to pick back up with acting in the early ’60s.
8.Morgan Freeman’s first movie role was as an uncredited party guest in the 1966 film, in ‘A Man Called Adam’ starring Sammy Davis Jr. Freeman’s first big movie role wasn’t until 21 years later!
9.Morgan Freeman’s early movies may have been smaller parts, but he really hit the big time with ‘Driving Miss Daisy’. A little known fact is that Eddie Murphy also had his eye on the lead role. With two such different acting styles, ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ could have been quite a different film!
10.During the filming of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, Freeman’s character is seen pitching a baseball. This scene took nine hours to film and Freeman continued pitching the entire time with zero complaint. Unsurprisingly though, the actor showed up the next day with his arm in a sling!
11.In 1998, one of Morgan Freeman’s friends built him a beautiful bespoke cabinet with an area reserved specifically for an Academy Award. His friend even included a plaque engraved with ‘No Parking. Reserved for Oscar’.
12.In 2005 the optimistic shelf was put to use when Freeman brought home his very first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in ‘Million Dollar Baby’.
13.Morgan Freeman actually won an award 20 years after starring in the movie it was for! In 2015 he was presented with the Best Vintage Performance by an Actor award, for his role as Detective Somerset in ‘Se7en’, back in 1995!
14.Morgan Freeman has won and been nominated for more awards than movies he has been in!
15.In total, Morgan Freeman has been nominated for various awards an astounding 79 times and has won 61 times. It might be time for his friend to build him a new cabinet!
16.Morgan Freeman really made the role in ‘Bruce Almighty’ his own, but did you know the part almost wasn’t his? Jack Nicholson was reportedly offered the part of God first, but turned it down. We think they ended up with the best actor for the job!
Fun And Fascinating Facts
It makes sense that Morgan Freeman would develop some intriguing hobbies given the adventurous life he has led. We are very certain that the Morgan Freeman Life Story would be a best-seller if he ever decided to pen an autobiography!
17.In 2014, Freeman turned his 124 acre ranch in Mississippi into a beekeeping sanctuary! After learning about the rapid decline of honeybees he decided to take action and currently has 26 hives.
18.Morgan Freeman has a unique approach to beekeeping, he doesn’t wear any protective clothing! It is his belief that he resonates with the bees and they would never harm him.
19.This man of many talents is also something of a chef! He wrote a cookbook called ‘Morgan Freeman And Friends: Caribbean Cooking For A Cause’, to raise money for The Grenada Relief Fund.
20.Freeman is fluent in French! He studied the language while he was at the University of California, Los Angeles, and since then become totally fluent, even delivering a speech completely in French.
21.In 2001, along with three friends, Morgan Freeman opened a blues club! Named Ground Zero, this juke joint style club is in Clarksdale, Mississippi a place known as ground zero for the blues.
22.Morgan Freeman is a pilot! Although he flew planes as a young man in the air force, he went on to earn his private pilot’s license at the age of 65.
23.Morgan Freeman’s favorite movies all came out before 1980! He has said his ultimate top five movies are: ‘King Kong’ (1933), ‘High Noon’ (1952), ‘Moulin Rouge’ (1952), ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ (1976) and ‘Moby Dick’ (1956).
24.During a car crash in 2008, Morgan Freeman broke his arm, left shoulder and elbow, not only this but the fingers of his left hand became paralyzed. He now wears a compression glove permanently.
25.Freeman’s unfortunate car crash however did not deter him from his love of golf, a year later he became the first American to record a par on the notoriously extreme 19th hole of the Legend Golf & Safari Resort, with a one handed swing no less!