Morgan Freeman honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Morgan Freeman has received the 39th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in Culver City, California...

Jun 21, 2011

Morgan Freeman has received the 39th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in Culver City, Calif., and the ceremony will air today on TV Land at 9 pm EST.

Clint Eastwood, Matthew McConaughey, Casey Affleck, Helen Mirren, Sidney Poitier, Matthew Broderick, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tim Robbins, Betty White, Forest Whitaker and Samuel L. Jackson were among the A-list stars who gathered on Thursday for a black-tie tribute, catered by Wolfgang Puck, to Morgan, 74.

Freeman opened the show in a pre-taped segment, saying, “Over the past 39 years, the AFI has honored the giants and tonight, ME,” as he smiled shyly and gave a thumbs up. Other than 1992 recipient Poitier, Freeman is the only other African American to receive this award, so it was fitting that Poitier began the proceedings, calling him “a character actor and a real character who has become a star and now a star of the AFI forever.”

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