Morgan Freeman
Freeman in 2013, photo by Prphotos
Place of Birth: Memphis, Tennessee or Mississippi, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 1, 1937
Ethnicity: African-American, as well as more distant English
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, narrator, director, and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Morgan is the son of Mayme Edna (Revere) and Morgan Porterfield Freeman. His parents were both black. He has four children, including actor Alfonso Freeman.
While he is usually stated as having been born in Memphis, Tennessee, Morgan’s listing on the 1940 U.S. Census states that he was born in Mississippi, where his parents were from.
Morgan’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Alfred Carr, was a caucasian man (with English ancestry) who had eight children with Morgan’s black great-great-grandmother, Celia Johnson. The two lived together, or close to each other, in Mississippi, though they could not legally marry at the time (the late 1800s). The couple was buried side by side.
Morgan’s paternal grandfather was named Hubert Freeman. Hubert was born in North Carolina.
Morgan’s paternal grandmother was Evie Anderson (the daughter of Albert Anderson and Lucinda “Cindy” Cain). Evie was born in Mississippi. Lucinda was born into slavery in Mississippi, and was the daughter of Milton Wright and Sylvia Cain.
Morgan’s maternal grandfather was Jacob Isiah Revere (the son of Daniel Revere and Riller). Jacob was born in Florida.
Morgan’s maternal grandmother was Lenora Greenlee (the daughter of Samuel Greenlee and Elizabeth/Betty Carr). Lenora was born in Mississippi. Elizabeth was the daughter of Alfred Carr and Celia/Celie Johnson.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show African American Lives 2 (2008) stated that Morgan’s genetic ancestry is:
*83% Sub-Saharan African
*17% European
In his 2009 book about the show, In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote that 75% of Morgan’s African DNA matches the Congo-Angola region, and 25% matches the Upper Guinea region, including the Shong and Tuareg people. On his father’s side, his DNA has matches with Igbo (Nigerian) ancestry.
Sources: Genealogies of Morgan Freeman – http://familypedia.wikia.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
Morgan’s father on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Morgan’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Morgan’s maternal grandfather, Jacob Isiah Revere, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Background story on Morgan’s caucasian great-great-grandfather, Alfred Carr, and black great-great-grandmother, Celia Johnson – http://www.nytimes.com
Okay but is he actually part Tuareg? Same with Tupac
http://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Freeman-Family-Tree-5701
CORRECTION: In his 2009 book , In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past., Henry Louis Gates wrote on page 77 more details about Morgan Freeman’s african ancestry:
75 % came from Congo-Angola region
25 % came from Upper Guinea (inclunding Shong,Tuareg)
On his father’s side DNA testing also have matches with Igbo (Nigeria) ancestry.
Greyish.
I think in African American lives his dna test came back 77 percent African and 23 European.
Morgan was 83% african
83? You must have just looked it up. That’s a lot of African ancestry. He also thought he had native ancestry but the test concluded he had none… even Morgan as African as he is is almost 1/5th European. His great-great grand father gave 6 percent European so his other 11 percent had to come from someone else. It would be interesting if that could be traced, where his other European ancestry came from.