Spotlight On: Morgan Freeman

A veteran of stage and screen, Morgan Freeman has played an incredible range of characters, from Easy Reader on TV's 'The Electric Company' to president of the United States to the ultimate authority figure, God. Somehow, we narrowed the list down to our absolute favorites.

In a large cast of good actors portraying prisoners, Freeman made a memorable impression in a tiny role as an angry death-row inmate demanding respect.

Freeman's first real breakout role came in this 1987 film, where he played a menacing yet charming pimp and earned his first Academy Award nomination.

"Crazy Joe" Clark is a force of nature, a real-life educator brought in as principal at a New Jersey high school that is in big-time trouble. He inspires the students to learn -- or else!

A man of many talents, Hoke develops a close friendship with his employer, Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy). Freeman, reprising his stage role, received his second Oscar nomination.

As a Sergeant Major in the first all-black regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War, Freeman must command respect from his soldiers, no matter the color of their skin.

Defying racial stereotypes, Freeman played a new sidekick for Robin (Kevin Costner), a Moor named Azeem. The swordsman confounds everyone with his wit, intelligence, and deadly skills.

Clint Eastwood's mythic, powerful Western featured Freeman as Ned Logan, a retired gunfighter who leaves his wife to join up with his old partner one last time.

Returning to prison, Freeman provided the soul of the film as Red, a convicted murderer who displays great humanity and becomes fast friends with Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins).

On the brink of retirement, homicide detective Freeman is teamed with young hotshot Brad Pitt. Freeman's character cautions restraint as they hunt a wily, incredibly vicious serial killer.

In a more traditional detective story, Freeman brought novelist James Patterson's famed investigator Alex Cross to life. The film itself was kissed off by critics, but not Freeman's performance.

This soulful apocalyptic tale was bolstered by Freeman as the U.S. President, who must announce that humanity may become extinct due to an approaching comet.

As God, the ultimate authority figure, who else but Morgan Freeman would be believable?

Reuniting with his 'Unforgiven' costar and director, Freeman delivered a knockout, Academy Award-winning performance as a former boxer who pushes his friend to train a female fighter.

Freeman plays Lucius Fox -- Bruce Wayne's version of James Bond's Q -- in Christopher Nolan's first Batman film.

Freeman uses his distinctive, rich voice to narrate this charming Oscar-winning documentary about Antarctica's Emperor penguins.

Director Ben Affleck cast Freeman as a guilt-ridden police captain in this heart-rending mystery about a missing child.

Freeman reprises his 'Batman Begins' role to help the Dark Knight battle his greatest foe -- the Joker -- in one of the best films of the genre. Fox would appear again in Nolan's last Batman film, 2012's 'The Dark Knight Rises.'

This sentimental comedy-drama, directed by Rob Reiner, features Freeman teaming up with Jack Nicholson for the first time. The partnership translated into box office success.

Freeman, reunited with director Reiner, is in fine form as a gruff, alcoholic novelist whose heart is melted by next door neighbor Virginia Madsen and her three young daughters.

In this hyper-kinetic world of action, created by Luc Besson and starring Scarlett Johansson, Freeman plays a professor devoted to unlocking the potential of the human brain.