Al Freeman Jr.


Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. 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 The Mod Squad, Kojak, and Maude, and a long-running role on the soap opera One Life to Live.

Early life, family and education

Al Freeman was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Lottie Brisette and Albert Cornelius Freeman, a jazz pianist. His parents divorced when he was nine years old, his father relocated to Columbus, Ohio, so Al was raised in both places.
Al Freeman Jr. attended Los Angeles City College, studying acting in 1951, but left school to enlist in the US Air Force, serving in the Korean War. After three years in the military, he returned to Los Angeles, taking courses in "speech, broadcasting and drama" and "train for the stage with Jeff Corey, Harold Clifton, and Frank Silvera. He "later earned a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts."

Career

Freeman's acting career began in 1958, working on several TV shows. He relocated to New York City in 1959, and the following year made his Broadway debut in The Long Dream. He appeared in Black Like Me, the 1964 film adaptation of the novel of the same name. He starred opposite Frank Sinatra in the 1968 feature film The Detective, directed by Gordon Douglas. Freeman starred opposite Shirley Knight in the Los Angeles production of the play Dutchman, written by Amiri Baraka, and in 1967, Dutchman was adapted into a film directed by English filmmaker Anthony Harvey. Also on Broadway, he performed 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 in 1970. He played the title role in the TV movie My Sweet Charlie which co-starred Patty Duke. He acted in another Broadway play, The Hot L Baltimore.
His most recognized role was as police captain Ed Hall on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1972 through 1987, with recurring appearances in 1988 and 2000. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series|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. He 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. Freeman acted in the motion picture Down in the Delta. 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]. Guest appearances included the TV series The Cosby Show and Law & Order, in which he played a character in a 1990 episode and a different character in a 2004 episode.
In 1988, Freeman became a visiting artist-in-residence at the Department of Theatre Arts of Howard University in Washington, D.C., then became a full-time faculty member in 1991. He was its department chairman for six years, beginning in 2005, and occasionally directed plays there and on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, at Vineyard Playhouse.

Personal life and death

Freeman married Sevara E. Clemon on January 8, 1960, but the marriage ended in divorce.
He enjoyed his sailboat "moored in the Potomac basin."
Freeman died on August 9, 2012, in Washington, D.C., at age 78. The next day, a memorial service was held for him at Howard University. In 2014, the Environmental Theatre Space at the Howard University Fine Arts Building was renamed The Al Freeman Jr. Environmental Theatre Space in his honor.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1967The Edge of NightAssistant District Attorney Ben Lee
1968The F.B.I.Alan Harmon1 episode
1969Judd for the DefenseJeff Jones1 episode
1972The Mod SquadJessie Cook1 episode
1972–1988One Life to LiveCaptain Ed Hall
1974MaudeRoy1 episode
1975Hot l BaltimoreCharles BinghamMain role
1976KojakDonald Mosher1 episode
1978KingDamon Lockwood
1979Roots: The Next GenerationsMalcolm X
1985The Cosby ShowCoach Ernie Scott1 episode
1990Law & OrderReverend Thayer1 episode
1995–1996Homicide: Life on the StreetDeputy Commissioner James Harris
2004Law & OrderStan Wallace1 episode