[Saad Khan]

Morgan Freeman seriously injured in car crash

Monday August 04 2008 17:17 BST


Morgan Freeman. Photo: James Patterson/Getty

The Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman has been seriously injured in a car crash.

The accident happened on Sunday night, according to the Mississippi highway patrol. At around 11.30pm local time Freeman, 71, was driving east on Highway 32 when his car skidded off the road and flipped several times.

Freeman and a female passenger were extracted from the vehicle. The actor - who was apparently conscious and talking after the accident - was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, where he was described as in a serious condition.

There was no word on the condition of the passenger.

After shooting to fame as Jessica Tandy's benign chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Freeman confirmed his place in Hollywood's A-list when he co-starred in The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

Freeman's career since has been consistently strong, with starring roles in Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Batman Begins (2005). He was most recently seen in Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight.

Freeman was due to star as Nelson Mandela in The Human Factor, currently in pre-production.


http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/film/20...morgan.freeman

© Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

[Wetekemieluth]

Freeman's narrative roles in Million Dollar Baby and Shawshank Redemption were excellent.

[neirty]

Wishing him well, and hoping that nothing more than a critter in the road (or something equivalently benign) as the reason for skidding off of it...

[SasortFkire]

Perhaps one of America's greatest film actors still alive, after all is said and done, despite falling short of the dubious title of superstar. I hope he gets through this and is able to carry on with his superb work, as per normal.

'Nelson Mandela' sounds like the type of role that would be perfectly suited to his temperment and acting talents.

[tigoCeree]

MISSISSIPPI -- Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was in a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday after being injured in a car accident near his home in Mississippi.

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman, 71, is in serious condition. The hospital is about 90 miles north of the accident scene in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer of Memphis when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday.

"There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Williams said. He said both Freeman and Meyer were wearing seat belts. The woman's condition was not immediately available.

Freeman was airlifted to the hospital in Tennessee.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 5 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

McFerrin said it appeared that Freeman's car was airborne when it left the highway and landed in a ditch.

"They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle,"

McFerrin said. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."

McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor.

When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." His screen credits also include "The Shawshank Redemption," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Dark Knight," now in theaters.

He was born in Memphis, Tenn., but spent much of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He is a co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.

The hospital where Freeman is being treated is commonly known as The Med, and is an acute-care teaching facility that serves patients within 150 miles of Memphis.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=6305325

Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[rostpribru]

News is good concerning Morgan Freeman. He is doing fine, and will need minor surgery. Both occupants were wearing seat-belts, and it doesn't appear that drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident.

Statement from Freeman's spokesperson:

'Nelson Mandela' sounds like the type of role that would be perfectly suited to his temperment and acting talents.

Coincidentally...

July 18th was Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. He earned the gift of a long life while in prison.

A few days ago, I heard a factoid regarding Michael Caine during a showing of the film Zulu (1964). Location shooting was in South Africa, and Caine vowed never to return to the country until apartheid was dismantled. He kept his word, and returned in 1995 to play F W de Klerk in The Mandela Story.

[unapelosina]

I'm happy to know that he is not too badly injured.
I hope he has a speedy recovery.

[SerycegeBunny]

Thanks for the follow-up on Morgan Freeman Zippy, and that information on M. Caine was well placed indeed.

Odd that I have been scheduled to go to South Africa for two years now, specifically several places in Natal. I will finally enter that country for the first time in my life in late September. Although I have seen many lovely photographs and films about this country over the years, it is hard to divorce that beauty from the reality of South Africa's human history. I have never seen Mr. Caine's film, but I plan on seeing it now. I do remember Cry Freedom, however, about Steve Biko (Denzel Washington).

I just know that M. Freeman will do a fine job when it is his turn.

[Rasklad]

I think it is very telling that Morgan Freeman warrants a thread and well wishes, while Robert Novak can drop dead and go to hell.

[proslaviy]

I would not wish that on hell.

Maybe just Albany.

[Xxedxevh]

Odd that I have been scheduled to go to South Africa for two years now, specifically several places in Natal. I will finally enter that country for the first time in my life in late September.

If you'd enjoy seeing some local political/cultural theatrical satire from a dear aging queen, I highly recommend a trip to Darling for a show by Pieter-Dirk Uys at Evita se Perron.

Witty, provocative, riotous, outrageous, hilarious, touching -- and the characters and impressions are pitch-perfect -- satire of the highest order. If you're considering it, just go. (Though you may want to brush up on South African politics).