This is the man with the greatest voice in the history of acting - and yet he was nearly robbed of it before he even had the chance to show it off to the world. Just six months before this picture was taken, Freeman suffered from a bout of pneumonia. The illness would return again a year later and almost take his life. He made a full recovery and went on to begin a legendary Hollywood career, and for that, we should all be grateful. A world without Freeman scarcely bears thinking about.
It's commonly said that Freeman could read a telephone directory, and people would still happily sit and listen to it. His deep, rich voice has become his trademark, but he's also a wonderful actor with or without the voice. The best example of him using his voice and performance skills together is in his role as 'Red' in 'The Shawshank Redemption,' but he's also been called upon on more than one occasion to play God!