MORGAN FREEMAN

Morgan Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing lead role in a school play. After high school, he eagerly enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, hoping to be a fighter pilot like he saw in the Saturday movie theaters, but instead he was assigned as a mechanic. He realized that if he couldn’t be an actual fighter pilot, he wanted “to pretend” to be one, and his acting career took center stage.

During his tenure with PBS “The Electric Company,” Morgan continued to hone his acting skills. Management at the Electric Company notified Freeman that they would not be renewing his contract. Pushed to reveal why, Morgan was told that they considered his voice too high pitched. Morgan pleaded with them to give him an opportunity to show them that he could actually lower his voice. After two months of voice coaching, Morgan returned to the set with his now, iconic voice. He later went on to super roles like chauffeur Hoke in “Driving Miss Daisy” and Sargent Rawlins in “Glory.” Widely recognized for his role as Red, the redeemed convict in “The Shawshank Redemption,” Morgan’s career was off to the races, as his voice became one of the hottest assets in Hollywood.

In 1997, Freeman, along with Lori McCreary, founded the film production company “Revelations Entertainment” and it’s online film distribution company, “ClickStar.” Six months after Walter Cronkite’s death, Morgan’s vocal cords replaced Cronkite’s voice as the CBS nightly news introduction of anchor Katie Couric. Morgan hosted and narrated the Discovery Channel’s physics feature, “Through the Wormhole” and other science and space exploration programs. His narration for documentaries, including science and space exploration programs. His narration for documentaries, including 2005’s “March of the Penguins” was especially notable.

Freeman lives on a ranch outside of Charleston, MS, and also maintains a home in New York City. He owns and operates Ground Zero, a blues club in Clarksdale, MS, with his long time business partner, lawyer and friend, Bill Luckett. It was Luckett who introduced Morgan to flying, and at age 65, Morgan earned his private and a year later his instrument followed by his multi-engine rating a month later. He owns and is type rated in a Piper Seneca II, a Cessna Citation, a twin-engine Cessna 414, and in 2007 he purchased a Swearingen SJ30 long-range jet. Morgan visited over 20 countries and logged more than 60 hours in the left seat of the SJ30 promoting the movie “Invictus,” where he played President Nelson Mandela.

It was at the 2nd Annual “Living Legends of Aviation Awards” held at Airport Journals’ hangar/office in Denver where Morgan was able to fly a wide variety of aircraft including an L-39 fighter trainer, a Bell 206 helicopter, a MiG 15, and the experimental Adam A-500. His greatest childhood wish at age 9 was to fly the P-51 Mustang and win the war for his country. He was extreme- ly disappointed when the war ended without accomplishing his dream. He did however accomplish his dream of flying the P51 Mustang at Centennial Airport the morning of the 2nd annual “Living Legends of Aviation Awards.” Morgan is a Charter Legend of the “Living Legends of Aviation” and has volunteered his famous voice for the “Flown West” segment of the Legends.