20 Facts About Morgan Freeman’s Long Road to Success

There’s a good reason Morgan Freeman played God. Twice.

It’s that voice. A rich, deep, authoritative voice that’s his calling card. But his ability to be the “Voice of God” is only a small part of Freeman’s story. His tall stature and calm demeanor, coupled with his majestic voice, have led to a wide range of roles and incredible success in movies and beyond. His movies have grossed more than $10 billion worldwide.

However, his journey to stardom had a rough beginning. Here’s how he persevered and became one of Hollywood’s most admired stars, as well as a force in business and philanthropy.

Morgan Porterfield Freeman Jr., was born in Memphis, Tennessee on June 1, 1937, the youngest of five children. His father, Morgan Porterfield Freeman Sr., was a barber, and his mother, Mayme Edna Freeman, taught school.

The elder Freemans struggled with the racial segregation laws in the south and finally took to the road. Not long after Morgan Jr. was born, his family moved to Chicago, but he went to live with his grandmother in Mississippi. She died when he was six, and he rejoined his family in Chicago.

At that time, his mother had separated from his father. Later she and her children moved to Tennessee and eventually returned to Mississippi.

Freeman discovered a love for movies in grade school. Admission to the theater was 12 cents at the time, and he earned money for tickets by turning in used milk bottles (5 cents) and beer and soda bottles (2 cents). He was especially inspired by movies starring Gary Cooper.

Going to all those movies wasn’t the turning point for Freeman to pursue an acting career; instead a disciplinary action he received at Broad Street High School in Mississippi encouraged the performer in him. To get the attention of a girl he liked, he pulled her chair out from under her. As punishment he was required to appear in his school’s drama competition. He aced the role and won the competition.

Upon graduating from high school in 1955, Freeman refused a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University in Mississippi because he wanted to be a fighter pilot. Those war films he watched as a child had him yearning for a flying career. So he signed up for the U.S. Air Force. He worked as a mechanic from 1955 to 1959. He was offered pilot training, but the first time he sat in a cockpit, he knew it wasn’t for him. The whole fighter pilot image had only been a romantic notion.