TORONTO – Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman will be in Toronto this spring to be honoured for his efforts to fight racism and promote education.
Freeman, 75, is the special guest at A Celebration of Excellence, scheduled for May 6 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Organized by the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (CFHU), the event raises funds for the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada.
“We are thrilled to honour a man who has not only touched hearts and minds on the big screen, but has worked consistently, courageously, and with his quiet leadership, to tackle pressing social issues and inspire young individuals to pursue knowledge and education.” said CFHU Toronto Chapter President Randy Masters, in a release.
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Freeman will receive The Key of Knowledge Award from Fiona Eberts, wife of Canadian film producer Jake Eberts, who passed away last September in Montreal. Eberts was executive producer of Driving Miss Daisy, for which Freeman won a Golden Globe award in 1990.
The star, who won an Oscar in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby, will also take part in a Q&A session moderated by filmmaker Paul Saltzman.
Saltzman wrote and directed the 2009 documentary Prom Night in Mississippi, which followed a group of Charleston, Mississippi high school students as they prepared for the city’s first racially integrated prom.
Freeman, who financed the prom, came to Toronto in November 2009 for the premiere of the film. He also appears in Saltzman’s new documentary, The Last White Knight.
Click here to see Paul Saltzman talk about The Last White Knight on Global Toronto’s The Morning Show.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Freeman said the only way to eliminate racism is to “stop talking about it.” He also called Black History Month “ridiculous.” He told Piers Morgan in 2011 he believes the Tea Party is racist and, in an interview with NPR, described Barack Obama as the first “mixed-race president.”
Freeman hasn’t been in Toronto since filming the 2010 action movie Red in the city.
Tickets for A Celebration of Excellence are $180.
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