Morgan Freeman to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from AFI

The American Film Institute has named its 39^th Lifetime Achievement Award to be veteran actor Morgan Freeman. The award is known as the highest honor to be given to an individual in the film industry. The Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, Sir Howard Stringer has announced on Monday, October 11, that they have chosen the famed actor, referring to him as “an American treasure.”

“Across decades, whether playing a prisoner, a president or God, he embodies a calm authority that demands respect for the character and for the art form.  His gifts to the cultural record are also underscored by his   unmistakable voice that echoes through the hearts and minds of movie lovers around the world.  AFI is proud to present him with its 39th Life Achievement Award,” said Stringer.

The award will be presented in a gala tribute dinner on Thursday, June 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The presentation will be aired on TV Land Prime at a later time, also in June 2011. With this award, Freeman will join the likes of Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Alfred Hitchcock and 34 others who have been given the honor since 1973.

Freeman is known for his award-winning performances in Million Dollar Baby, for which he has won an Academy Award, and Driving Miss Daisy, for which he has won a Golden Globe Award. He is also known as God in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty, the US President in Deep Impact, a calm-mannered prisoner in Shawshank Redemption, and many other roles in different films. His most recent appearance in a movie was in 2009 when he played the South African President Nelson Mandela in the movie Invictus.

Freeman started his acting career in the 1970s, gaining fame in his roles in the soap opera Another World and the comedy sketch The Electric Company. In the mid-1980s, he became known for his supporting roles in different films. In the late 1980s up to the 90s, Freeman moved to major roles from which he received several nominations in different prestigious awards. Because of his distinctive voice, Freeman has been a favorite in narrations in movies, most notably War of the Worlds and the documentary March of the Penguins. He still does narration and hosting at present, which is at the Discovery Channel’s TV show Through the Wormhole. He is also currently working on a new thriller movie called Red.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is annually given by the American Film Institute to an individual who has made a significant impact in the movie industry. The AFI Board of Trustees resolution states, “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”

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