Al Freeman, Jr.

The son of African American stage actor Al Freeman (1884-1956), Al Freeman Jr. made his film debut in 1960's The Rebel Breed. In 1967, Freeman co-starred with Shirley Knight in the film version of Leroi Jones' off-Broadway play Dutchman, earning excellent notices for his portrayal of a black subway passenger victimized by a crazed white woman. Three years later, he co-starred with Patty Duke in the landmark TV movie My Sweet Charlie (1970), playing a volatile New York City lawyer stranded in a jerkwater Texas town with a white unwed mother (Duke). Freeman is best known to daytime-drama fans for his lengthy stint as Lt. Ed Hall on One Life to Live a role that won him an Emmy in 1978. Freeman wrote the screenplay for director Ivan Dixon's Countdown at Kusini (1976), and directed the 1971 feature A Fable. More recently, Al Freeman Jr. portrayed Elijah Muhammed in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide