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Al Freeman Jr.
Actor

Al Freeman Jr.

21 Mar 1934Born
9 Aug 2012Died
78Age at death
41Credits

Biography

Al Freeman, Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor and director. Freeman made appearances in many films, such as My Sweet Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, and television series such as The Cosby Show, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street and The Edge of Night. He is mostly recognized for his portrayal of Police Captain Ed Hall on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, a role he played from 1972 through 1985, with recurring roles in 1988 and 2000. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for that role, the first African-American actor to be so honored.

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He left the show briefly to appear in the network's controversial sitcom Hot L Baltimore. During that period, "Ed" was played by another actor, Arthur Pendleton. He was also a director of One Life to Live, and was one of the first, if not the first, African-Americans to direct a soap opera.

After leaving One Life to Live, Freeman appeared in the motion picture Down in the Delta. His Broadway theatre credits include Look to the Lilies, Blues for Mister Charlie, and Medea. His portrayal of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad in the motion picture Malcolm X earned him the 1995 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Coincidently, he had previously played Malcolm X in the 1979 miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations.

Freeman also taught acting as a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C..

Description above from the Wikipedia article Al Freeman, Jr., licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Filmography

  1. 1998Down in the DeltaFilm: Earl Sinclair
  2. 1996Once Upon a Time... When We Were ColoredFilm: Poppa
  3. 1994Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson WhittakerFilm: Old Johnson Whittaker
  4. 1993Homicide: Life on the StreetSeries: Deputy Commissioner James Harris (3 episodes)
  5. 1993Boy Meets GirlFilm: Curtis
  6. 1992Malcolm XFilm: Elijah Muhammad
  7. 1990Law & OrderSeries: Reverend Thayer, Stan Wallace (1 episode)
  8. 1989Ida B. Wells: A Passion for JusticeFilm: Narrator (voice)
  9. 1988Seven Hours to JudgmentFilm: Danny Larwin
  10. 1985Perry Mason ReturnsFilm: Lt. Cooper
  11. 1984The Cosby ShowSeries: Coach Ernie Scott (1 episode)
  12. 1979Roots: The Next GenerationsSeries: Malcolm X (1 episode)
  13. 1978KingSeries: Damon Lockwood (3 episodes)
  14. 1976Countdown at KusiniFilm: Screenplay
  15. 1975Hot l BaltimoreSeries (13 episodes)
  16. 1973KojakSeries: Donald Mosher (1 episode)
  17. 1972To Be Young, Gifted and BlackFilm
  18. 1971A FableFilm: The Leader, Director
  19. 1970The Chicago Conspiracy TrialFilm
  20. 1970My Sweet CharlieFilm: Charles Roberts
  21. 1969Castle KeepFilm: Pvt. Allistair Piersall Benjamin
  22. 1969The Lost ManFilm: Dennis Lawrence
  23. 1968Finian's RainbowFilm: Howard
  24. 1968The Mod SquadSeries (1 episode)
  25. 1968One Life to LiveSeries: Capt. Ed Hall (3742 episodes)
  26. 1968The DetectiveFilm: Robbie Loughlin
  27. 1967Judd, for the DefenseSeries (1 episode)
  28. 1966DutchmanFilm: Clay
  29. 1966For Pete's SakeFilm: Harvey
  30. 1965The F.B.I.Series: Alan Harmon (1 episode)
  31. 1964Ensign PulverFilm: Taru
  32. 1964The TroublemakerFilm: Intern
  33. 1964Black Like MeFilm: Thomas Newcomb
  34. 1961The DefendersSeries: Charlton White (1 episode)
  35. 1961Sniper's RidgeFilm: Medic Gwathney
  36. 1960This Rebel BreedFilm: Satchel
  37. 1959Adventures in ParadiseSeries: Para (1 episode)
  38. 1959The DuPont Show with June AllysonSeries: Taxi Man (1 episode)
  39. 1958Torpedo RunFilm: Sam Baker
  40. 1958The Broken MaskFilm: George
  41. 1955The MillionaireSeries: Houseboy (1 episode)

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.