With an authoritative voice, and calm demeanour, this ever popular African American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Born in June 1937 in...more >> Memphis, Tennessee, the young Freeman attended Los Angeles Community College before serving several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic between 1955 and 1959. His first dramatic arts exposure was on the stage and he appeared in an off Broadway production of "The Nigger Lovers" and also in an all-African American production of the exuberant musical Hello, Dolly! (1969).Freeman first appeared on TV screens as several characters including Easy Reader, Mel Mounds, and Count Dracula on the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) show ";The Electric Company"; (1971). He then moved into feature film with another children's adventure, Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow? (1971). Next there was a small role in the thriller Blade (1973); then he played Casca in _Julius Caesar (1979/II) (V)_ and the title role in Coriolanus (1979). Regular work was coming in for the talented Freeman and he appeared in the prison dramas Attica (1980) (TV) and Brubaker (1980), the slow-moving Eyewitness (1981), and portrayed the final 24 hours of slain Malcolm X in Death of a Prophet (1981).For most of the 1980s, Freeman continued to contribute decent enough performances in films that fluctuated in their quality. However, he really stood out, scoring an Oscar nomination as a merciless hoodlum in _Street Smart (1987/I)_ , and then he dazzled audiences and pulled a second Oscar nomination as the patient and dignified chauffeur<< collapse