What Is Morgan Freeman's Net Worth and Salary?
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, and narrator who has a net worth of $250 million. For over 20 years, Morgan Freeman has been one of the most famous and in-demand actors in the world. His current net worth would have been much higher had Morgan not been forced to pay his ex-wife a $100 – $200 million divorce settlement in 2010.
Morgan Freeman began his acting journey in theater productions and later transitioned to television roles in the 1970s, including appearances on "The Electric Company" and "Another World." Freeman's breakout film role came in 1987 with "Street Smart," which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Throughout his career, Freeman has portrayed a wide range of characters in numerous successful films. Some of his most notable works include "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "Se7en" (1995), "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), and "Invictus" (2009). His distinctive voice has also made him a sought-after narrator for documentaries and films, such as "March of the Penguins" (2005).
Freeman has received multiple accolades for his performances, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in "Million Dollar Baby," as well as nominations for "Street Smart," "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Shawshank Redemption," and "Invictus." He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, among others.
Divorce Settlement
Morgan Freeman's net worth today is $250 million, but that's after he paid his former wife of 26 years, Myrna Colley-Lee, $100-200 million in real estate and cash back in 2010. At one point, Myrna had sought as much as $400 million based on the valuation of their holdings and his future earning potential.
Early Life
Morgan Freeman was born on June 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennesee. He is the son of Mayme Edna and Morgan Porterfield Freeman. He's the youngest of five children. Shortly after he was born, his parents relocated to Chicago to find work, and Morgan stayed with his maternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. His grandmother died when he was six, and he moved to Chicago to be with his mother, who at that point had separated from his father. They eventually moved back to Tennessee.
Freeman got the acting bug when he was just nine years old, and he played the lead role in a school play. He graduated from Broad Street High School in 1955 and went on to enlist in the United States Air Force. Once he moved to Los Angeles after his time in the military, he started taking acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse. To make ends meet, Morgan worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles City College. At the same time, he was often traveling around New York City and San Francisco, working as a dancer and as a member of a music theater group, respectively.
Career
In the mid-1960s, Freeman first appeared in an off-Broadway production of a play titled "The Niggerlovers" and then with Pearl Bailey in an all-African-American Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!" in 1968. His first film appearance was in "Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!" in 1971. He became a familiar face in America through work on the soap opera "Another World" and appearances on "The Electric Company," a PBS kids' show.
Morgan continued his theater work, and in 1980, he received the Obie Award for his starring role in "Coriolanus." He nabbed his second Obie in 1984 for The Gospel at Colonus, and in 1989 was given the award again for his lead role in "Driving Miss Daisy" (later adapted for the screen, which he also starred in.)
The later '80s and early '90s was an upward climb for Freeman, who began playing prominent roles in big-budget films. He was cast in the 1987 film "Street Smart" as Fast Black, and the role earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1994, he won the role of Red in "The Shawshank Redemption," which catapulted him into A-list fame. Morgan went on to star in several other big-budget films like "Seven," "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Deep Impact," and "Unforgiven."
Freeman had a big year in 2005. After three previous nominations, Morgan finally won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" at the 77th Academy Awards.
In 2005, he was chosen to play the role of God in the blockbuster film "Bruce Almighty" (and later, the sequel "Evan Almighty"). He appeared in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Night Trilogy–Batman Begins" in 2005 as well. He later went on to reprise his role in the two sequels.
After starring in 2007's "The Bucket List," Freeman made a big return to the stage and co-starred with Peter Gallagher and Frances McDormand in the Broadway hit "The Country Girl." He teamed up with director Clint Eastwood in 2009 to play Nelson Mandela in "Invictus," which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 2013, he appeared in "Olympus Has Fallen" (followed by the sequels "London Has Fallen" and "Angel Has Fallen") and "Oblivion." More recent works include 2019's "The Poison Rose" alongside John Travolta, 2020's crime comedy "The Comeback Trail," and 2021's "Coming 2 America."
On November 20, 2022, Freeman performed at the opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with Ghanim Al-Muftah.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI)
Other Work
Morgan made his debut as a director with Paramount Pictures' "Bopha!" in 1993. To date, the only other directing endeavor he has undertaken was for three episodes of "Madam Secretary."
Known for his distinctive, booming voice, Morgan is frequently hired for narration work. In 2005, he narrated "War of the Worlds" and the documentary "March of the Penguins," and he later did voice work for 2014's "Lego Movie." He replaced Walter Cronkite as the voice intro to the CBS Evening News in 2010. He's also the host and narrator for "Through the Wormhole," a Discovery Channel physics show. Freeman did the narration for many popular Visa commercials until 2018. He also narrated Netflix's "Our Universe," a nature documentary series that premiered in 2022.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Personal Life
Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from 1967 to 1979. He married Myrna Colley-Lee in 1984, and they divorced in September 2010. He has four children. His stepdaughter from his first marriage was tragically murdered in 2015 in New York City. She was 33 years old.
Freeman was involved in a near-tragic car accident on the night of August 3, 2008, near Ruleville, Mississippi. His Nissan Maxima flipped several times after flying off the highway. He and a female passenger were rescued by paramedics using the "Jaws of Life" and taken via helicopter to a hospital in Memphis. Freeman broke his left shoulder, arm, and elbow in the crash. Although alcohol was ruled out as a factor in the crash, his passenger (Demaris Meyer) later sued him for negligence and claimed he had been drinking that night. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount out of court. To this day, he wears a compression glove to help with his fibromyalgia.
In May 2018, CNN reported the results of an investigation in which eight women accused Freeman of sexual harassment. Eight other people came forward to say they had witnessed inappropriate behavior on movie sets or at his production company. Freeman issued an apology after the report was released. As a result, the Screen Actors Guild contemplated taking away his lifetime achievement award, but in September 2018 ruled that he could retain it.
Morgan was active in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims, and he formed the Grenada Relief Fund to aid victims of Hurricane Ivan.
In March 2019, Morgan revealed that he had converted his 124-acre farm in Mississippi into a bee sanctuary. Freeman also maintains a home in New York City. He owns and operates the blues club Ground Zero in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
