HOLLYWOOD - Morgan Freeman started acting nearly 40 years ago, playing a wide variety of roles, including a chauffeur, a US president and God, but he had to wait until Sunday to finally win his first Oscar.
Freeman won the statuette for best supporting actor for his role as former boxer Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris in Clint Eastwood's boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby."
In accepting the award, Freeman thanked those involved in the making of the film, especially director and lead actor nominee Eastwood, "for giving me the opportunity to work with him again and to work with Hilary Swank."
"This was a labor of love," he said.
The prolific 67-year-old star, born in the southern US state of Tennessee, began acting in theater productions in 1967 before moving on to film, where he has carved out a career from playing wise and determined characters.
He played the US president in the disaster flick "Deep Impact" (1997) and portrayed an even more powerful character -- God -- in "Bruce Almighty" (2003), a comedy starring Jim Carrey. He has also played former South African president Nelson Mandela and US civil rights activist Malcolm X.
Freeman earned his first of four Oscar nominations with his 1987 role as a tough pimp in "Street Smart." Although he failed to win the best supporting actor statuette, he was rewarded for his role by US film critic associations.
His moving portrayal of a chauffeur in the segregated US South in "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989) won him a Golden Globe in the United States and a Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival. He also earned his second Oscar nomination for the film, this time for best actor.
In the moving 1989 drama "Glory," Freeman played a soldier in the first all-black volunteer company to fight for the North in the US Civil War.
He starred alongside Kevin Costner in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991) and with Brad Pitt in the crime thriller "Seven" (1995).
The father of four earned his third Oscar nomination, a best actor nod, for his role in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), based on a Stephen King book about a convicted killer (Tim Robbins) who insists he was wrongly accused.
"Million Dollar Baby" was Freeman's second collaboration with Eastwood. In 1992, he starred in "Unforgiven" alongside Eastwood, who also directed the film.
02/28/2005 03:45 GMT