Academy Award winner and Tony nominee Morgan Freeman has been named the 54th recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for Career Achievement and Humanitarian Accomplishment.
Freeman will be presented with the honor at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS January 21, 2018, at 8 PM ET.
Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join a host of honors for the actor, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Academy Award, HFPA’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, seven Image Awards, a Silver Berlin Bear, several Obies, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I am thrilled to announce Morgan Freeman as this year’s recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award. Some actors spend their entire careers waiting for the perfect role. Morgan showed us that true perfection is what a performer brings to the part,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris in a statement. “He is innovative, fearless and completely unbound by expectations. As a chauffeur, convicted murderer, boxing gym attendant, pimp or president, Morgan fully realized every character baring their souls and showcasing their humanity. It has been a privilege to see his genius at work.”
Freeman made his Broadway debut in Hello, Dolly! He earned a Tony Award nomination for 1978's The Mighty Gents and has also appeared in The Gospel at Colonus, The Dozens, Purlie, and the 2008 revival of The Country Girl.
Freeman is perhaps best known for his Golden Globe-winning performance in Driving Miss Daisy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Million Dollar Baby. His numerous screen appearances include Invictus, The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, Kiss the Girls, Amistad, Unforgiven, Attica, and The Bucket List.
