Morgan Freeman made his debut in the 1964 American drama film ‘The Pawnbroker’ where he made an uncredited appearance as a man on the street. The film opened to critical acclaim and grossed over $4 million on a budget of $930,000. After making uncredited appearances in films like ‘A Man Called Adam’ (1966) and ‘Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?’ (1968), he joined the cast of the American educational children's television series ‘The Electric Company’ created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The series aired 780 episodes before going off-air in 1977. In 1980, he starred as ‘Walter’ in the American prison drama film ‘Brubaker’ directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The film opened to a positive reception and was a decent box office success. He next appeared in films like ‘Attica’ (1980), ‘Eyewitness’ (1981), ‘Teachers’ (1984), ‘Harry & Son’ (1984), ‘Marie’ (1985), and ‘That Was Then... This Is Now’ (1985). He received the ‘Academy Award’ and Golden Globe Award nominations for his performance as ‘Fast Black’ in the 1987 American dramatic crime thriller film ‘Street Smart’ directed by Jerry Schatzberg. Even though the film was well-received by critics, it failed to achieve success at the box office.
In 1988, he starred as ‘Craig’ in the Glenn Gordon Caron-directed American drama film ‘Clean and Sober.’ The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. The year 1989 saw the release of the American comedy-drama film ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ where Freeman played the role of ‘Hoke Colburn.’ The film was a critical and commercial success and received 9 Academy Award nominations, including ‘Best Actor’ for Freeman. He continued to star in films like ‘Lean on Me’ (1989), ‘Johnny Handsome’ (1989), ‘The Civil War’ (1990), ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ (1990), ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991), ‘Unforgiven’ (1992), and ‘The Power of One’ (1992). In 1994, he starred as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding in the American drama film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ directed by Frank Darabont. The film opened to universal acclaim and grossed over $73.3 million on a budget of $25 million. Freeman also received his 3rd Academy Award nomination along with a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the film. He was next seen in films like ‘Seven’ (1995), ‘Chain Reaction’ (1996), ‘Kiss the Girls’ (1997), ‘Deep Impact’ (1998), ‘Hard Rain’ (1998), ‘Nurse Betty’ (2000), ‘Under Suspicion’ (2000), ‘Along Came a Spider’ (2001), ‘The Sum of All Fears’ (2002), ‘High Crimes’ (2002), ‘Bruce Almighty’ (2003), ‘Levity’ (2003), and ‘The Big Bounce’ (2004).
Freeman became a recipient of the ‘Academy Award,’ ‘Golden Globe Award,’ and ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for his portrayal of Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris in the 2004 Clint Eastwood-directed American sports drama film ‘Million Dollar Baby.’ The film saw critical acclaim upon release and was a major commercial success, grossing over $30 million on a budget of $216.8 million. The following year, he played the role of ‘Lucius Fox’ in the American superhero film ‘Batman Begins’ directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was well-received by critics and grossed over $373.7 million on a $150 million budget. He next appeared in films like ‘The Contract’ (2006), ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006), ‘Evan Almighty’ (2007), ‘Gone Baby Gone’ (2007), ‘The Bucket List’ (2007), ‘Wanted’ (2008), ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), ‘Invictus’ (2009), ‘RED’ (2010), ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2011), ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ (2013), ‘Now You See Me’ (2013), The Lego Movie’ (2014), ‘5 Flights Up’ (2014), ‘Ted 2’ (2015), ‘London Has Fallen’ (2016), ‘Now You See Me 2’ (2016), ‘Just Getting Started’ (2017), ‘Alpha’ (2018), ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018), ‘Angel Has Fallen’ (2019), ‘Coming 2 America’ (2021), and ‘Vanquish’ (2021). He was last seen in the 2021 American action comedy film ‘Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard’ directed by Patrick Hughes. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. He will be next seen in the upcoming American action-thriller film ‘Muti.’