Unforgiven

CLASS ACT: Morgan Freeman, 77th Annual Academy Awards, 2005
When I first set eyes on Freeman, as Fast Black in "Street Smart," I wanted to run very far away from his soft-spoken, lethal killer, as insinuating as a snake. You couldn't take your eyes off him. The man claims Gary Cooper... more as his first acting inspiration, and you can see the grand Cooper quiet, that contained authority, in Freeman's style. And he shares the kind of natural elegance Cooper brought to his screwball comedy and Western heroes and especially, very late in his career, the aging Casanova (often tuxedoed) in "Love in the Afternoon." In roles that range from low-down pimp to end-of-the-line convict to laissez-faire deity, Freeman says he always "gravitates to gravitas." In "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby," he anchors Clint Eastwood -- as actor and director -- in bedrock integrity. And that uncompromising sense of self even saves "The Bucket List" from totally sinking into crass sentimentality. In the wake of three nominations ("Street Smart," "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Shawshank Redemption"), Mr. Freeman finally took his Oscar home in 2005, for his deeply resonant performance in "Million Dollar Baby" as Eddie Dupris, failed boxer, wise trainer. The monochromatic gentleman strode the red carpet in a black, satin-collared tux with velvet-striped trousers, ebony shirt and shades. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)