Morgan Freeman has received numerous awards for his acting; including an Oscar and a Golden Globe… he has a star on the Walk of Fame… and he has received awards from International Film Festivals around the world.
However, when looking at the true meaning and significance of an award like the ‘Cecil B. DeMille’ I don’t think you can simply focus on the recipient’s body of work. I think these lifetime achievement awards are much bigger than just giving some old guy a trophy and letting him give a speech. The award is nice, I’m sure… but really it’s about placing the honoree in the company of the awards previous recipients.
Quite frankly, the ‘Cecil B. DeMille’ honor roll includes the likes of Bob Hope, Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney, Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Bettie Davis, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball, Laurence Olivier… and the list of legendary Hollywood elite goes on and on… all the way to 59, where Morgan Freedman’s name will accompany the rest for all time.
These lifetime achievement awards aren’t merely an award… they are a Hall of Fame… this is where careers are immortalized for the next generations.
And to truly appreciate this feeling it is important to put a perspective on it. 50 years from now, movie loving kids will look back to Morgan Freeman with the same kind of majestic wonder as I look back on Bob Hope. And that… that alone… is amazing.
Congratulation Morgan! You rocked in ‘Dolphin Tale’!
