Actor Freeman ‘in divorce action’

Divorce rumours about Colley-Lee and Freeman surfaced in June

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman and his wife of 24 years  are to divorce, according to his lawyer.

Bill Luckett told US cable TV show Access Hollywood that Freeman and costume designer Myrna Colley-Lee “are involved in a divorce action”.

He added: “And for legal and practical purposes the pair have been separated since December 2007.”

The 71-year-old Dark Knight star is recovering after being involved in a serious car accident on Sunday.

Freeman was driving a car belonging to his friend, Demaris Meyer, when he lost control and veered off a highway close to his home in Charleston, Mississippi.

The car flipped over several times before landing in a ditch.

Arm injuries

Bill Rogers, who saw the accident happen, recalled a conversation he had with Freeman at the scene: “He said that she had offered him a ride home; that they were friends, and she didn’t really know the way and so he was going to drive the vehicle.”

The pair were airlifted to Memphis’s Regional Medical Centre, about 90 miles (145km) north of where the accident occurred.

The actor suffered a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder injuries.

Mr Luckett, who also co-owns a blues club with Freeman, visited the actor in hospital on Wednesday. He said: “It’s going to take a few months because he got banged up pretty badly actually.”

“He’s in good spirits today and he hopes his golf swing is going to be better than ever now with his fixed arm,” the lawyer added.

Freeman married Myrna in June 1984. He also has two children with his first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw, whom he was married to for 12 years from 1967.

Mechanic

Freeman won a best supporting actor Oscar for boxing drama Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

He has twice been nominated in the leading actor category – for The Shawshank Redemption in 1995 and Driving Miss Daisy in 1990.

Last year it was announced the actor would play former South African president Nelson Mandela in forthcoming film The Human Factor.

His first credited film appearance was in the 1971 movie Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow!

Prior to that, he had worked as a mechanic in the US Air Force.

His film appearances include Se7en, Unforgiven and the rebooted Batman franchise.

Morgan Freeman in ‘good spirits’

Courtesy BBC

Morgan Freeman received an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in “good spirits” after being injured in a serious car accident near his Mississippi home.

Mr Freeman’s spokeswoman says he has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage.

She said the 71-year-old Dark Knight star is expected to undergo surgery and to make a good recovery.

The accident happened shortly before midnight on Sunday outside Charleston in the Mississippi Delta.

Mr Freeman’s car ran off the side of the road and overturned several times, landing upright in a ditch.

Mr Freeman – who had been driving the car – and a female passenger were airlifted to Memphis’s Regional Medical Center, about 90 miles (145km) north of where the accident occurred in Tallahatchie County.

“He is having a little bit of surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to help correct the damage,” his spokeswoman Donna Lee said. “He says he’ll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery,” she added.

Earlier a spokesman at the hospital said the actor was in a “serious” condition.

Neither Lee nor the hospital had information about the condition of the woman, Demaris Meter of Memphis.

‘No freebies’

Both passengers had been wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Sergeant Ben Williams.

FREEMAN FACTS Born 1 June 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee He spent several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic Freeman started acting in the 1960s, appearing a couple of off-Broadway shows His first credited film appearance was in 1971’s Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow! Freeman starred in some of the biggest films of the 1990s, including The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Se7en, and Deep Impact He won an Oscar in 2005 for the film Million Dollar Baby Freeman plays Lucius Fox in this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight (pictured)

“There’s no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved,” he added. He said it was possible that the actor had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Mr Freeman was conscious and talking at the scene, he said.

There were “no other vehicles or pedestrians involved”, he added.

An investigation into the accident is currently under way.

Bill Rogers, who saw the accident happen and was first on the scene, told BBC 5 Live that driving conditions on Sunday night were difficult.

“We had a rain storm that had just passed and so the highway was wet,” he said. “We were standing in water in the ditch.”

“When he became conscious Mr Freeman began asking the same questions over and over again: ‘Was I speeding, can I lay on the ground? Is everybody okay?'” Mr Rogers added.

Clay McFerrin, editor of local newspaper the Sun-Sentinel, told the Associated Press news agency the actor later began “joking with some of the rescue workers.”

When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone, Mr Freeman joked, “no freebies, no freebies,” Mr McFerrin said.

Mechanic

Morgan Freeman is one of Hollywood’s best loved and busiest actors, says the BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles.

Morgan Freeman hurt in car crash

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in hospital after being injured in a car accident near his Mississippi home.

The 71-year-old Dark Knight star is in a serious condition, according to staff at Memphis’s Regional Medical Center.

The accident happened shortly before midnight on Sunday outside Charleston in the Mississippi Delta.

A Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman told the that Mr Freeman’s car left the road and “began to flip several times” before landing in a ditch.

Mr Freeman – who had been driving the car – and a female passenger were airlifted to the Memphis hospital, about 145km (90 miles) north of where the accident occurred in Tallahatchie County.

Talking at the scene

Both the actor and the woman, Demaris Meyer of Memphis, had been wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, said Sergeant Ben Williams.

“There’s no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved,” he added.

Mr Freeman was conscious and talking at the scene, he said, but the extent of his injuries was unclear.

There were “no other vehicles or pedestrians involved”, he said.

An investigation into the accident is currently under way.

Clay McFerrin, editor of local newspaper the Sun-Sentinel, told the Associated Press news agency he had been at the scene on Mississippi Highway 32, not far from where Mr Freeman owns a home with his wife.

“He was lucid, conscious,” Mr McFerrin said. “He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point.”

When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone, Mr Freeman joked, “no freebies, no freebies,” Mr McFerrin said.

FREEMAN FACTS

Born 1 June 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee

He spent several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic

Freeman started acting in the 1960s, appearing a couple of off-Broadway shows

His first credited film appearance was in 1971’s Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow!

Freeman starred in some of the biggest films of the 1990s, including The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Se7en, and Deep Impact

He won an Oscar in 2005 for the film Million Dollar Baby

Freeman plays Lucius Fox in this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight (pictured)

Mechanic

Morgan Freeman is one of Hollywood’s best loved and busiest actors.

Mr Freeman won a best supporting actor Oscar for boxing drama Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

He has twice been nominated in the leading actor category – for The Shawshank Redemption in 1995 and Driving Miss Daisy in 1990.

Last year it was announced the actor would play former South African president Nelson Mandela in forthcoming film The Human Factor.

His first credited film appearance was in the 1971 movie Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow!

Prior to that, he had worked as a mechanic in the US Air Force.

His film appearances include Se7en, Unforgiven and the rebooted Batman franchise.