WASHINGTON, D.C. — AARP announced today that actor, producer and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman will receive the 2016 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award.  The Movies for Grownups^® multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage films with unique appeal to mature audiences and to recognize the inspiring artists 50-plus who make them.

Freeman will receive Movies for Grownups’ highest honor on Monday, February 6, 2017, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.  AARP The Magazine will host the 16^th annual Movies for Grownups Awards, where many other awards, including best actor, best actress and best director, will be presented.  Event proceeds benefit AARP Foundation, which helps struggling people 50-plus in Los Angeles and around the country transform their lives through programs, services and vigorous legal advocacy.

"We are proud to announce that Morgan Freeman is our AARP Movies for Grownups Career Achievement winner,” said Bob Love, editor in chief of AARP The Magazine. “Morgan is a consummate artist and an actor whose unforgettable performances year after year disrupt the conventional wisdom about aging in Hollywood. We couldn’t be more pleased."

"At a certain point in life, if you’ve had some success, awards start to fall from the sky. But this one really means something,” said Morgan Freeman to AARP The Magazine.  “I started my movie career at 50 and some of the best years happened since then. I get a lot of pats on the back — they’re all over the place — but this one’s more than fun, it’s priceless."

With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever-popular American actor has become one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema.  Born in June 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman had his first dramatic arts exposure on the stage, appearing in an off-Broadway production of The Nigger Lovers and also in an all-African American production of the exuberant musical Hello, Dolly! (1969). His breakout role in film was playing Fast Black in Street Smart (1987), a performance that landed him his first of five Academy Award nominations. 

Today, Freeman’s career spans more than 50 years and includes roles in memorable films including Driving Miss Daisy, Glory, Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, Amistad and more.  He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for his performance in Million Dollar Baby. Additionally, Freeman produced many films in conjunction with his company, Revelations Entertainment, including 2010’s Invictus, in which Freeman played Nelson Mandela; the film received Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG nominations.  In April 2017, he will co-star with Michael Caine and Alan Arkin in the comedy Going In Style.

Freeman joins a prestigious list of previous AARP Movies for Grownups^® Career Achievement honorees, including Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford and Robert DeNiro.

With weekly news and reviews, nationwide screenings, and an annual awards event, Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise continues to champion movies for grownups, by grownups. 

For more information about AARP’s Movies for Grownups^® Awards, go online to www.aarp.org/moviesforgrownups. The entire list of award winners will also be featured in the February/March Issue of AARP The Magazine, available in homes February 1st.

About AARP The Magazine’s Movies For Grownups® Awards’ Philanthropic Goals
The annual Movies for Grownups®  Awards raises funds for AARP Foundation, AARP’s affiliated charity, which helps struggling people 50-plus in Los Angeles and around the country transform their lives through programs, services and vigorous legal advocacy. The foundation works to ensure that low-income older adults have nutritious food, functional and affordable housing, steady income, and strong and sustaining social bonds.

AARP Foundation is active in Los Angeles. It is working with the Motion Picture &Television Fund (MPTF) to develop programs to reduce social isolation among older people, by keeping them connected with their friends, families and neighborhoods.  AARP Foundation also is the founding sponsor of L.A. Kitchen, where California produce considered “waste” is used to make healthy meals for those in need.

About AARP The Magazine
With nearly 36 million readers, AARP The Magazine is the world's largest circulation magazine and the definitive lifestyle publication for Americans 50-plus. AARP The Magazine delivers comprehensive content through health and fitness features, financial guidance, consumer interest information and tips, celebrity interviews, and book and movie reviews. AARP The Magazine was founded in 1958 and is published bimonthly in print and continually online. Learn more at www.aarp.org/magazine/. Twitter: twitter.com/AARP

About AARP:
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into 'Real Possibilities' by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name.  As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world’s largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @aarp and our CEO @JoAnn_Jenkins on Twitter.

Media Contacts:
Eileen Thompson-Ray, Rogers & Cowan, 310.854.8137, eray@rogersandcowan.com
Paola Torres, AARP, 202.434.2555, ptorres@aarp.org