Morgan Freeman Through the Years

Born in Memphis, Tennessee on June 1, 1937, Morgan Freeman turns 80 Thursday. The beloved actor has been acting since he was a child, and got his start in Hollywood with roles on the soap opera Another World and the PBS kids' show The Electric Company. He has gone on to capture audiences with his performances in films such as Driving Miss Daisy, Glory, The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, and many more. In honor of Freeman’s 80th birthday, see photos of the star through the years.

On the set of the PBS TV series The Electric Company

Freeman with first wife Jeanette at the Mighty Gents Broadway opening party

Publicity shot of Freeman in the film Street Smart in New York

At the 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards

From left: Broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite, film director Joseph L. Brooks, Freeman, actor Jack Nicholson at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards at Sardi's restaurant

With Sidney Poitier at the D.W. Griffith Awards

Attending the Annual Academy Awards Oscar Nominees luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel

With second wife Myrna Freeman at the 62nd Annual Academy Awards

At the Indian Wells IBM/ATP Tour Awards Champions Cup at Stouffer Esmeralda Resort in Palm Springs

Portrait taken in Toronto

With wife Myrna Freeman and their daughter during The 67th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles

With Michael Jackson during the VH1 Honors in Los Angeles

In London

With Cate Blanchett at the New York premiere of the actress' film Elizabeth

Hugging actor Gregory Peck at the premiere of Under Suspicion in Santa Monica

With Sidney Poitier at the 14th Annual Carousel of Hope Ball at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel

Portrait taken in Melbourne

At the premiere of The Sum of All Fears in Westwood, Calif.

At his footprint ceremony at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

Attending the premiere of Levity at the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah

Acknowledges the crowd as official pace car driver during the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

At the screening for The Sugarland Express at the Deauville American Film Festival in France

With Diana Ross at Clive Davis' Pre-Grammy Awards party at the Beverly Hills Hotel

Posing with his Best Supporting Actor trophy (for his role in Million Dollar Baby) at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood

At the Sithengi round table in Cape Town, South Africa

With Nelson Mandela at the Unite For A Better World gala dinner in Monte Carlo, Monaco

Discussing the impact of severe storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The 2008 Kennedy Center honorees: (L-R, front row) performer Barbra Streisand, Freeman, dancer Twyla Tharp, (L-R, back row) producer George Stevens, Jr., President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Michael M. Kaiser, musician Roger Daltrey, musician Pete Townshend, musician George Jones, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Stephen A. Schwarzman

With actor/director Clint Eastwood at the GQ Men Of The Year party at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood

Being interviewed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in New York

Receiving the Life Achievement Award at the AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Morgan Freeman

Attending the AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine in Culver City, Calif.

With Robert De Niro backstage at AFI's Life Achievement Award Tribute to Mel Brooks in Hollywood

Hugging Rita Moreno at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles

With costar Tim Robbins at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 20th anniversary screening of The Shawshank Redemption in Beverly Hills

Waving before receiving an honorary doctorate at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

On stage at the Opening Ceremony of the Invictus Games in Orlando

Puckering up to Helen Mirren after being presented the Career Achievement Award at the 16th Annual AARP The Magazine's Movies For Grownups Awards in Beverly Hills

Attending the AOL Build series to discuss Going In Style in New York City