Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (March 21, 1934 â€" August 9, 2012) was
an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors
Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from
Leroi Jones' Slave/Toilet to Joe Papp's revivals of Long Day's Journey
Into Night and Troilus and Cressida, and films, including My Sweet
Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, as well as television series
and soap operas, such as One Life to Live, The Cosby Show, Law &
Order, Homicide: Life on the Street and The Edge of Night.Al Freeman
was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Lottie Brisette (née Coleman) and
Albert Cornelius Freeman, a jazz pianist. Taking a hiatus from
college, Freeman enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 to serve in the
Korean War. 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 1987, with recurring appearances in 1988 and
2000. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for that
role in 1979, the first actor from the show as well as the first
African-American actor to earn the award. A director of One Life to
Live, he was one of the first African Americans to direct a soap
opera.After leaving One Life to Live, Freeman appeared in the 1998
motion picture Down in the Delta. His Broadway theatre credits include
The Hot L Baltimore and Look to the Lilies. His portrayal of Elijah
Muhammad, the Nation of Islam leader, in the film Malcolm X earned him
the 1992 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a
Motion Picture. He had played Malcolm X in the 1979 miniseries, Roots:
The Next Generations. In the 1990s he had a recurring guest role as
the manipulative Baltimore deputy police commissioner James Harris in
Homicide: Life on the Street. In 1991 Freeman joined the Department of
Theatre Arts at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and served for
six years as department chairman.Al Freeman Jr. also appeared on
Broadway in 1970 as Homer Smith in Look to the Lilies, a musical
adaptation of Lilies of the Field, opposite Shirley Booth. The show
ran for 25 performances and 31 previews.
an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors
Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from
Leroi Jones' Slave/Toilet to Joe Papp's revivals of Long Day's Journey
Into Night and Troilus and Cressida, and films, including My Sweet
Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, as well as television series
and soap operas, such as One Life to Live, The Cosby Show, Law &
Order, Homicide: Life on the Street and The Edge of Night.Al Freeman
was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Lottie Brisette (née Coleman) and
Albert Cornelius Freeman, a jazz pianist. Taking a hiatus from
college, Freeman enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 to serve in the
Korean War. 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 1987, with recurring appearances in 1988 and
2000. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for that
role in 1979, the first actor from the show as well as the first
African-American actor to earn the award. A director of One Life to
Live, he was one of the first African Americans to direct a soap
opera.After leaving One Life to Live, Freeman appeared in the 1998
motion picture Down in the Delta. His Broadway theatre credits include
The Hot L Baltimore and Look to the Lilies. His portrayal of Elijah
Muhammad, the Nation of Islam leader, in the film Malcolm X earned him
the 1992 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a
Motion Picture. He had played Malcolm X in the 1979 miniseries, Roots:
The Next Generations. In the 1990s he had a recurring guest role as
the manipulative Baltimore deputy police commissioner James Harris in
Homicide: Life on the Street. In 1991 Freeman joined the Department of
Theatre Arts at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and served for
six years as department chairman.Al Freeman Jr. also appeared on
Broadway in 1970 as Homer Smith in Look to the Lilies, a musical
adaptation of Lilies of the Field, opposite Shirley Booth. The show
ran for 25 performances and 31 previews.
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