Al Freeman Jr.
Freeman in 1975
Born	Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (1934-03-21)March 21, 1934 San Antonio, Texas, US
Died	August 9, 2012(2012-08-09) (aged 78) Washington, D.C., US
Years active	1958–2004
Spouse	Sevara E. Clemon ​ ​ (m. 1960)​

Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor, director, and educator. A life member ofThe Actors Studio,^[1] Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging fromLeroi Jones'Slave/Toilet toJoe Papp's revivals ofLong Day's Journey Into Night andTroilus and Cressida, and films, includingMy Sweet Charlie,Finian's Rainbow, andMalcolm X, as well as television seriesThe Mod Squad,Kojak, andMaude, and a long-running role on the soap operaOne Life to Live.

Al Freeman was born inSan Antonio, Texas, to Lottie Brisette (née Coleman) and Albert Cornelius Freeman, a jazz pianist.^[2][3] His parents divorced when he was nine years old, his father relocated toColumbus, Ohio,^[2] so Al was raised in both places.^[4][5]

Al Freeman Jr. attendedLos Angeles City College, studying acting in 1951,^[2] but left school to enlist in the US Air Force, serving in theKorean War.^[6][7][2] After three years in the military, he returned to Los Angeles, taking courses in "speech, broadcasting and drama" and "train[ing] for the stage withJeff Corey, Harold Clifton, andFrank Silvera.^[2] He "later earned a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts."^[5]

Freeman's acting career began in 1958, working on several TV shows.^[8] He relocated to New York City in 1959,^[2] and the following year made hisBroadway debut inThe Long Dream (based on the 1958 novel byRichard Wright).^[9] He appeared inBlack Like Me, the 1964 film adaptation ofthe novel of the same name.^[8] He starred oppositeFrank Sinatra in the 1968 feature filmThe Detective, directed byGordon Douglas. Freeman starred oppositeShirley Knight in the Los Angeles production of the playDutchman, written byAmiri Baraka (then known as LeRoi Jones),^[10] and in 1967,Dutchman was adapted into a film directed by English filmmakerAnthony Harvey.^[11] Also on Broadway, he performed as Homer Smith inLook to the Lilies, a musical adaptation ofLilies 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 movieMy Sweet Charlie (1970) which co-starredPatty Duke.^[8] He acted in another Broadway play,The Hot L Baltimore (1973).

His most recognized role was as police captainEd Hall on theABCsoap operaOne Life to Live from 1972 through 1987, with recurring appearances in 1988 and 2000. He won aDaytime Emmy Award forOutstanding 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 playedMalcolm X in the 1979 miniseriesRoots: The Next Generations. In the 1990s, he had a recurring guest role as the manipulative Baltimore deputy police commissioner James Harris inHomicide: Life on the Street. Freeman acted in the motion pictureDown in the Delta (1998). His portrayal ofElijah Muhammad, theNation of Islam leader, in the filmMalcolm X earned him the 1992NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Guest appearances included the TV seriesThe Cosby Show andLaw & Order,^[6] 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 ofHoward University inWashington, D.C., then became a full-time faculty member in 1991.^[5] He was its department chairman for six years,^[10] beginning in 2005,^[9] and occasionally directed plays there and onMartha's Vineyard,Massachusetts, at Vineyard Playhouse.^[5]

Freeman married Sevara E. Clemon on January 8, 1960, but the marriage ended in divorce.^[2][5]

He enjoyed his 40-foot (12 m) sailboat "moored in the Potomac basin."^[2]

Freeman died on August 9, 2012, in Washington, D.C., at age 78.^[5][9] The next day, a memorial service was held for him atHoward University.^[10] 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.^[12]

• Al Freeman Jr. atIMDb 
• Al Freeman Jr. at theInternet Broadway Database
• Al Freeman Jr. atTurner Classic Movies
• Al Freeman Jr. at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)

• 1934 births
• 2012 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• American male soap opera actors
• Daytime Emmy Award winners
• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winners
• Howard University faculty
• Male actors from San Antonio
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century African-American educators
• 21st-century American educators

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• IBDB name template using Wikidata
• Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata
• Place of death missing