MORGAN FREEMAN JOINS LEGAL AID AS ITS CHARTER

CELEBRITY AMBASSADOR

Morgan Freeman support of the Legal Aid and the work that it does and programs that it supports is a significant event as Legal Aid gets ready to enter its 50th year providing legal resources to the lowest income of people in Santa Barbara County.

"We owe a great debt of gratitude to the Heroes for Justice and The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County for being a lighthouse to the members community in need of legal support. I commend your works and wish you continued success." - Morgan Freeman

A philanthropist in his own right, Morgan founded the Santa Barbara-based 501(c)(3), PLAN!T NOW, which provides individuals and at-risk communities with the tools they need to prepare for and cope with the hurricanes and coastal storms of the future in a proactive effort to reduce the loss of life and property caused by these devastating storms through cutting-edge research and education programs as well as indirect relief in the form of scholarships, grants and micro loans.

MORGAN FREEMAN earned his first Academy Award nomination for his chilling performance as a homicidal pimp in the drama Street Smart, which also brought him the LA, N.Y., and National Society of Film Critics Awards for best supporting actor of 1987, as well as an Independent Spirit Award and a Golden Globe nomination. The 16 year span between those titles saw Freeman range from Shakespeare to an undercover policeman in Eyewitness.  The next two decades would see him become one of Hollywood's true luminaries. Freeman earned his second Oscar nomination in 1989, this time as Best Actor, recreating his award-winning Broadway role in Driving Miss Daisy.  He garnered his third Academy Award nomination playing opposite Tim Robbins in the critically praised 1994 hit The Shawshank Redemption.  His fourth nomination for Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby won him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2005.

The Memphis-born actor began his career on New York stages in the early 1960s, following a stint as a mechanic in the Air Force.  A decade later, he became a nationally known television personality when he created the popular character Easy Reader on the popular children's show, The Electric Company. Throughout the 1970s, he continued his work on stage, winning the Drama Desk Award, the Clarence Derwent Award and receiving a Tony Award Nomination for his outstanding performance in The Mighty Gents in 1978. He also won an Obie Award for his portrayal of Shakespearean anti-hero, Coriolanus, at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

In 1993, Freeman made his film directorial debut with Bopha!, starring Danny Glover and Alfre Woodard, and soon after formed Revelations Entertainment, a production company developing entertainment product in all existing and emerging media that "enlightens, inspires and glorifies the human experience."  Their most recent production was the Brad Silberling comedy 10 Items or Less, in which Freeman starred with Paz Vega.

His other early film acting credits include Brubaker, Harry & Sons, Teachers, Marie; That Was Then, This Is Now, Clean & Sober, Johnny Handsome, the multiple award-winning Glory, Chain Reaction, Kiss the Girls, the Steven Spielberg production, Amistad, Hard Rain, Deep Impact, Nurse Betty, Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, High Crimes, The Sum of All Fears and Warner Bros' Dreamcatcher and The Big Bounce. Other recent films include Luc Besson's Unleashed, Robert Redford's An Unfinished Life, Batman Begins and narration on the Academy Award-winning documentary March of The Penguins.  He also starred in Lucky Number Slevin, with Bruce Willis and Josh Hartnett, the comedy sequel Evan Almighty, Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, Wanted with Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Common, and the current blockbuster, record-setting chapter in the Batman saga The Dark Knight.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE CELEBRITY AMBASSADOR PROGRAM, PLEASE CONTACT DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR NIKI RICHARDSON AT 805.963.6754