Academy Award-winning actor MORGAN FREEMAN (Beech) is one of the most recognizable figures in American cinema. His works are among the most critically and commercially successful films of all time. Freeman himself ranks 10th among the world's top-grossing actors of all time, with his films having earned more than $3 billion in cumulative ticket sales. Whether a role requires an air of gravitas, a playful smile, a twinkle of the eye or a world-weary yet insightful soul, Freeman's ability to delve to the core of a character and infuse it with a quiet dignity has resulted in some of the most memorable portrayals ever recorded on film.

Freeman won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Million Dollar Baby. In 1990, he won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Comedy/Musical for his performance in Driving Miss Daisy. Freeman also received an Academy Award nomination in 1988 for Best Supporting Actor for Street Smart and in 1995 for Best Actor for The Shawshank Redemption.

Freeman was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. In 2001, Freeman received the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award. In 2000, Freeman was honored with the Hollywood Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award at the Hollywood Film Festival, as well as the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2008 for his distinguished acting career.

In 2009, Freeman won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for his performance as Nelson Mandela in the acclaimed film Invictus. He also received an Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe nomination and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination for the role. The picture was produced by Revelations Entertainment, the company he co-founded in 1996 with a mission to produce films that "enlighten, express heart and glorify the human experience." Other Revelations features include Levity, Under Suspicion, Mutiny, Bopha!, Along Came a Spider, Feast of Love, 10 Items or Less and The Maiden Heist.

Freeman recently starred in The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman film series, and Rob Reiner's Castle Rock drama The Magic of Belle Isle, a Revelations Entertainment production.

Freeman's upcoming projects include Summit Entertainment's heist film Now You See Me, CBS Films' comedy Last Vegas, Millennium Films' action thriller Olympus Has Fallen and Kazuaki Kiriya's action adventure film The Last Knights. He will voice a character in Warner Bros.' live-action/animated LEGO: The Piece of Resistance, based on the popular children's toy.

Freeman's credits include Dolphin Tale, Born to be Wild 3D, The Dark Knight, The Bucket List, Glory, Clean and Sober, Lean on Me, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Se7en, Kiss the Girls, Amistad, Deep Impact, Nurse Betty, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Coriolanus, Attica, Brubaker, Eyewitness, Death of a Prophet and Along Came a Spider. He also narrated two Academy Award-winning documentaries: The Long Way Home and March of the Penguins.

After beginning his acting career on the off-Broadway stage productions of The N*ggerlovers and the all African-American production of Hello Dolly!, Freeman segued into television. He played several recurring characters on the long-running Children's Television Workshop classic The Electric Company in 1971-76. Looking for his next challenge, he set his sights on both the "Great White Way" and silver screen simultaneously and quickly began to fill his resume with memorable performances.

In 1978, Freeman won a Drama Desk award for his role as Zeke in The Mighty Gents; was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a play.

His stage work continued to earn him accolades and awards, including Obie Awards in 1980, 1984 and 1987 and a second Drama Desk nomination in 1987 for the role of Hoke Colburn, which he created for the Alfred Uhry play Driving Miss Daisy and reprised in the 1989 movie of the same name.

In his spare time, Freeman loves the freedom of both sea and sky; he is a longtime sailor and has earned a private pilot's license. He also has a love for the blues and seeks to keep it in the forefront through his Ground Zero Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues. In 1973, he co-founded the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop, now in its 40th season. The workshop seeks to serve successful playwrights of the new millennium. He is a member of the board of directors of Earth Biofuels (now called: Evolution Energy), a company whose mission is to promote the use of clean-burning fuels. He also supports Artists for a New South Africa and the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED).