Distinguishing himself onstage with an impressive range of parts, Freeman methodically worked his way from song-and-dance man—he played Rudolph in "Hello, Dolly!" and the title role in "Purlie!"—to Shakespearean performer—he won an OBIE Award for "Coriolanus"—to leading man in a series of offbeat productions both on and off-Broadway—he earned another OBIE for "Driving Miss Daisy". Despite impressive stage work, Freeman was for many years best known for his hip, good-humored role as Easy Reader on the PBS children's show, "The Electric Company", a part he played from 1971 through 1976. Although Freeman's television work increased steadily during the 1970s, feature films remained elusive to the versatile actor. He made his debut on the big screen in "Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?" (1971). Nine years later, he was praised by famed New Yorker critic Pauline Kael for his work in the tough prison drama, "Brubaker". Throughout the 1980’s, Freeman languished in routine roles in mediocre movies, including "Teachers" (1985) and "MARIE: A True Story" (1985), until he received his first Oscar nomination for a supporting role as the volatile pimp Fast Black in "Street Smart" (1987). A second Oscar nomination—and belated leading man status—came when he reprised his off-Broadway role as a Southern chauffeur in "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). With unwavering grace and an intense mien, Freeman gave outstanding performances in "Glory" (1989), the story of the first unit of black soldiers during the Civil War, and "Unforgiven" (1992), the so-called anti-Western where he played the hard-boiled, no-nonsense foil to recidivist gunslinger Clint Eastwood. His role in “Unforgiven”, as well as Kevin Costner's sidekick in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), allowed Freeman the rare opportunity to play a character not conceived of as black. Meanwhile, Freeman made his directorial debut with the story of a black South African policeman and his son divided by apartheid in "Bopha!" (1993). In 1994, Freeman received his third Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Red—a man serving life in prison who has access to everything on the inside except hope—in the moving drama "The Shawshank Redemption". He received more praise for his role as a cop tracking a serial killer with novice partner Brad Pitt in "Seven" (1995). Freeman then appeared as the mysterious Hibble—a character not in the original novel—in the screen adaptation of "Moll Flanders", and as the enigmatic benefactor of a university's research project in "Chain Reaction" (both 1996). The following year, Freeman got the chance to headline a film, cast as the police detective and psychologist Alex Cross in the above-average thriller "Kiss the Girls". Steven Spielberg tapped the actor's innate moral rectitude for the role of an abolitionist in "Amistad" (1997), while director Mimi Leder saw him as the perfect figure to lend dignity and leadership to a world in crisis as the U.S. President coping with an impending meteor crash in "Deep Impact" (1998). Freeman added a producer credit to his resume with the based-on-fact television drama "Mutiny" (NBC, 1999), which detailed the behind-the-scenes actions that led to the landmark decision to integrate the U.S. military. He and Gene Hackman served double duty as co-producers and co-stars in the cat and mouse drama "Under Suspicion" (2000). Later that year, Freeman offered a splendid performance as a hit man who obsesses over the woman he has targeted to kill in "Nurse Betty," one of the most affecting and offbeat roles of his career. Following his reprise of detective Alex Cross in the prequel "Along Came a Spider" (2001) opposite Monica Potter the actor rejoined "Kiss the Girls" co-star Ashley Judd in the middlebrow thriller "High Crimes" before being cast as the CIA director in "The Sum of All Fears" (both 2002). Freeman turned in an effective performance as the mentor to a young Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck in an otherwise lackluster adaptation of the Tom Clancy bestseller. The following year, Freeman turned in an unusually exaggerated performance as an obsessive alien-fighting military officer in the supernatural thriller "Dreamcatcher" (2003), an artistic and critical disaster based on the novel by Stephen King. The actor was next seen as a genial God in the hit comedy "Bruce Almighty," starring Jim Carrey (2003), then as a Hawaiian lawman in the meandering Elmore Leonard-derived caper "The Big Bounce" (2004). Meanwhile, Freeman appeared in the critically acclaimed “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), an exquisite and subtle film directed by old friend Clint Eastwood. As Scraps, an aged boxer full of frustration and regret and blind in one eye, Freeman gave a fine performance that earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor, his first since “The Shawshank Redemption”. The nominations kept coming for Freeman, as the actor won at the Screen Actors Guild and--on his fourth go-round for the Oscar that had eluded him—he at last claimed the Best Supporting Actor trophy at the Academy Awards. He subsequently appeared in “Unleashed” (2005) as a blind piano tuner who helps a trained fighter (Jet Li) escaped from the confines of his trainer’s prison basement to start a new life. The combination of martial arts and blunt sentimentality earned the action thriller plenty of critical kudos. The venerable actor thrilled comic book fans when he winningly played Bruce Wayne's right-hand man Lucius Fox--the "Q"-like character with the keys to all of the Dark Knight's exotic, high-tech tools like the Batmobile--in "Batman Begins" (2005), a prequel to the popular film franchise focusing on the superhero's shadowy origins. He also lent his gravitas-heavy vocals to narrate a pair of disparate projects: "March of the Penguins" (2005), the Americanized version of the poetic French nature documentary "La Marche de L'empereur," and Steven Spielberg's riveting remake of the sci-fi classic "War of the Worlds" (2005). Freeman's next release, director Lasse Hallstrom's long-delayed "An Unfinished Life" (2005), cast the actor in a role that had echos of his "Million Dollar Baby" turn (though it was filmed first), playing the plain-spoken best friend of a cantankerous rancher (Robert Redford).