American Film Institute to Honor Morgan Freeman

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars will be flocking to Sony Pictures Studios on Thursday night to honor Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who will be receiving the 39th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.

The award is the top honor bestowed by AFI, which chooses recipients “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,” according to AFI.com.    

Freeman, 74, will join a list of recipients that includes John Ford, James Cagney, Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. Eastwood, Spielberg and Nicholson are among those expected to attend the ceremony at Sony, along with notables such as Ben Affleck, Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, Sidney Poitier, Brad Pitt and Helen Mirren.

In his venerated acting career, Freeman acknowledged that he has always had a North Star: “Every man has his own heaven and for me, heaven has always been being in the movies, and always in my heaven ... I had one bright light ... Sidney Poitier,” Freeman said.

Freeman was among the speakers in 1992 when Poitier received the AFI honor, and won an Oscar in 2005 for his supporting role alongside Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby. He has received Academy Award nominations for his work in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus.

The event will be televised on TV Land on June 19.

City News Service contributed to this report.