Morgan Freeman Trivia | 80 facts about the famous actor

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles.

Let’s find out more about the actor!

1. Morgan Freeman was born on June 1th, 1937.
2. He’s an American actor, director, and narrator.
3. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres.
4. Due to his distinctive voice he has narrated numerous documentary projects.
5. Ranked #31 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. [October 1997]
6. Village Voice Obie for Coriolanus (1979) and “Mother Courage”. [1980]
7. Village Voice Obie for Great Performances: The Gospel at Colonus (1985). [1986]
8. Village Voice Obie for Driving Miss Daisy (1989). [1990]
9. Father of Alfonso Freeman from his relationship with Loletha Adkins and Saifoulaye Freeman (b. August 31, 1961) from another previous relationship.
10. Father of Morgana Freeman (b. October 13, 1970) with Jeanette Adair Bradshaw. He also adopted his first wife’s daughter, Deena.
11. Received the “Hollywood Outstanding Achievement in Acting” Award on August 7, 2000.
12. He was (along with director/actress Billie Allen, director/playwright Garland Thompson, and journalist Clayton Riley’) a founding member of the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop, named after noted Black actor Frank Silvera.
13. Has reprised the same character three times. He played Dr. Alex Cross in Kiss the Girls (1997) and then reprised the role in Along Came a Spider (2001). He also played God in Bruce Almighty (2003) and then reprised that role in Evan Almighty (2007). Finally, he played Lucius Fox in both Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).
14. Considered joining the Air Force to become a fighter pilot but opted to stay with acting instead.
15. Worked as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.
16. Has recorded a new radio public service announcement about the national parks.
17. Earned a Private Pilot license at the age of 65.
18. Broadway debut in the musical “Hello, Dolly!” with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway.
19. Has his own production company, Revelation Entertainment.
20. Has starred in two movies based on Stephen King books: Dreamcatcher (2003) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
21. Has appeared in two films opposite a main character named Jack Ryan: The Sum of All Fears (2002) and The Big Bounce (2004).
22. Owns a boat which is berthed in the Caribbean. His busy schedule, however, only allows him to go sailing on it once a year.
23. During an interview with Charlie Rose regarding the 10th year anniversary of The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Freeman said he regarded that film, Glory (1989), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and Unforgiven (1992) as the highlights of his career.
24. Is often called the greatest living actor in film, a title he humbly waves off and says he is just “lucky”.
25. Was nominated for Broadway’s 1978 Tony Award as Best Actor (Feature Role – Play) for “The Mighty Gents”.
26. Said in an issue of Life magazine (February 2005) that he can be seen as an extra in The Pawnbroker (1964).
27. Arrived in Los Angeles, California in 1959 and his first job was as a clerk typist.
28. Speaks French fluently. He gave an introductory speech in French to the crowd of extras gathered in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium to portray the Baltimore Super Bowl audience in The Sum of All Fears (2002).
29. In May 2005, he won the right to the Internet domain name www.morganfreeman.com from the company Mighty LLC, of Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis in a UN panel.
30. Received a trademark on his name from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 19, 2006.
31. Most of the characters he has played are not written specifically for an African-American actor.
32. Keeps his Oscar statuette inside a cabinet which resides in his office. The cabinet was built by a good friend of his in 1998 especially for the Oscar that his friend predicted he would win. It even came with a plaque that read: “No Parking. Reserved for Oscar.”
33. Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1994.
34. Has played three men who teach someone to box in three separate films. First, he played Geel Piet in The Power of One (1992), he then played Alex Cross in Kiss the Girls (1997) where, at the beginning of the film, he was teaching a group of young boys how to box, and he also played Eddie “Scrap Iron” Dupree in Million Dollar Baby (2004).
35. Is the only African-American actor to appear in three Best Picture Oscar Winners: Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004).
36. His performance as Fast Black in Street Smart (1987) is ranked #77 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
37. In January 2001, opened Madidi, a fine-dining restaurant in Clarksdale, MS, with local attorney and businessman, Bill Lucket. They also co-own Ground Zero Blues Club, a blues bar and grill that opened in May 2001.
38. Three films of his are on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are: Driving Miss Daisy (1989) at #77, Glory (1989) at #31 and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) at #23.
39. Narrated two Academy Award-winning feature-length documentaries: The Long Way Home (1997) and March of the Penguins (2005).
40. Attended the 2004 and 2005 Dubai International Film Festival in the United Arab Emirates.
41. Works closely with screenwriter Grant Boucher.
42. Has said that watching Gary Cooper’s films in his youth inspired him to become an actor.
43. In addition to his role as Lucius Fox in the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise, Freeman previously acted alongside another Batman: Michael Keaton in Clean and Sober (1988).
44. Broke his arm and shoulder when he flipped his car near his home of Charleston, Mississippi on August 3, 2008.
45. Though he was born in Memphis, he actually grew up in the Mississippi Delta region. He moved back to Mississippi to open a blues club and restaurant in 2001.
46. Friends with Kenny Chesney.
47. Resides in Charleston, Mississippi and New York City.
48. Was honored with the American Film Institute’s 39th Lifetime Achievement Award on June 9, 2011.
49. Listed his five favorite films as King Kong (1933), High Noon (1952), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Moby Dick (1956).
50. Received the 2012 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony in January 2012.
51. The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is 10 years, between The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Million Dollar Baby (2004).
52. Favorite films include the original films King Kong (1933) and Moulin Rouge (1952).
53. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 18, 2003.
54. Has purchased the film rights to Orange Crushed, a mystery novel by an African-American writer, Pamela Thomas-Graham. (Thomas-Graham is also the CEO of cable news channel CNBC.) Orange Crushed features an African-American heroine, Professor Nikki Chase. [June 2004]
55. As of 2014, has appeared in four movies that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Unforgiven (1992), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). With the exception of The Shawshank Redemption (1994), all the other films won in the category. He gave Oscar nominated performances in all of these except Unforgiven, and won Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby.
56. His grandfather was Morgan Herbert Freeman. His father was Morgan Porterfield Freeman. He has said that his parents forgot to give him a middle name.
57. Son Alfonso Freeman (actor) was born in Los Angeles, September 13, 1959 to Morgan and Loletha Adkins (Polk). Alfonso first met his father in 1984.
58. Has appeared in three Best Picture Academy Award winners: Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). Clint Eastwood also appeared in and directed the latter two films.
59. Accredits his voice to studying at the LACC Theater Academy. Other alumni include Clint Eastwood, Mark Hamill, Cindy Williams, Donna Reed and Rene Aranda.
60. 20 years later, winner for Vintage Performance by an Actor in 1995, for his role as Detective Somerset in Se7en (1995) at the first Vintage Film Awards.
61. Is one of two African American actors in the top 5 highest grossing actors of all time, the other actor is Eddie Murphy.
62. Ranked fourth highest grossing actor of all time with his previous films grossing $4.3 billion.
63. Attended the premiere of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) , in London.
64. Narated the video introduction of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
65. Youngest of five children.
66. Rose to the rank of airman first class in the air force.
67. Turned down a drama scholarship to join the air force in 1955.
68. Owned a restaurant called Madidi but it closed down in 2012.
69. Endorsed Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election.
70. Plays golf.
71. His movie have grossed $10.24 billion worldwide.
72. His net worth is $150 million.
73. First American to record a par score on the 19th hole at the the Legend Golf and Safari Resort in the Entabeni Safari Conservatory, Limpopo South Africa.
74. Friends with Rita Moreno.
75. He has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant: The Pawnbroker (1964), Unforgiven (1992), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Dark Knight (2008).
76. The scrapped Disney project ‘King of the Elves’ had the protagonist modeled on him.
77. Mentioned in the song “Miami” by Baxter Dury (2017).
78. Grandfather to Alfonso Rene (b. March 11, 1983), Joshua Caleb (b. February 27, 1984) and Donovan Lee Freeman (b. August 18, 1987) via son Alfonso Freeman.
79. Is an avid beekeeper.
80. Born at 2:00 AM (CST).