You probably know him as the voice of God. Or maybe the wise old inmate in The Shawshank Redemption. But before the gravitas and the Oscars, Morgan Freeman was a groovy, denim-clad hipster obsessed with billboards.
He was Easy Reader.
If you grew up in the 70s, you remember the "Hey, you guys!" scream. You remember the psychedelic colors of PBS. But honestly, looking back at Morgan Freeman in The Electric Company, it feels like a fever dream. Imagine one of the most respected actors in cinematic history singing about the "OW" sound while wearing a newsboy cap. It happened. For six years and 780 episodes, it happened.
The Identity Crisis He Didn't See Coming
Most people think The Electric Company was just a fun side gig for a young actor. It wasn't. For Freeman, it was a gilded cage. He joined the cast in 1971, alongside legends like Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby. The goal was noble: teach kids phonics and "word recognition" (the English were apparently annoyed that they didn't teach "comprehension," but that’s a story for another time).
Freeman was broke. He needed the work. But he was terrified.
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He once told Rich Eisen that he was "terrified" of being identified solely with children’s television. He was worried the industry would cast him "flat out" as a kids' performer and never let him breathe again. "If that show had kept going, I might still be there," he joked, though you could tell he meant it. He saw the show as a trap even while he was becoming a household name for five-year-olds.
Who Exactly Was He Playing?
Freeman didn't just play one guy. He was a chameleon. While Easy Reader is the one everyone puts on the t-shirts, he had a whole roster of weird, wonderful, and occasionally creepy characters.
- Easy Reader: The "literary junkie." He loved to read anything. Cereal boxes, matchbooks, street signs. He moved with a cool, slow-motion swagger that defined 70s cool.
- Mel Mounds: A DJ with a voice that hinted at the deep, resonant Freeman we know today. He’d spin records and drop knowledge on vowels.
- Count Dracula: Yes, Morgan Freeman played a vampire. He’d sit in a coffin and talk about the letter "D." It was campy, strange, and surprisingly committed.
- The Cop: Often seen arresting people for bad grammar or misplaced letters.
- Vincent the Vegetable Vampire: A spin-off of his Dracula persona who, well, liked vegetables.
It’s bizarre to watch these clips now. You see the sparks of his later brilliance—the timing, the way he holds a frame—but it’s wrapped in 1970s PBS funk.
The Shopping Mall Reality Check
There’s this heartbreakingly funny story Freeman tells about a promotional trip to Philadelphia. This was at the height of his Electric Company fame. He was flown there in a limousine—his first time ever riding in one. He felt like a superstar.
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He sat in a shopping mall for an hour and a half, signing autographs for hundreds of kids and parents. His hand was cramping. He felt the weight of his celebrity.
Then it ended.
As he walked away, he looked back at the floor. It was covered in white scraps. The people hadn't kept the autographs. They’d just dropped them. "All those little bits of paper that I was signing... on the floor," he told Jimmy Kimmel. It was a cold reminder that to these people, he wasn't a "serious actor." He was just the guy from the TV who helped them learn the "ch" sound.
Why He Finally Walked Away
By 1977, Freeman had enough. He’d spent six years in a cycle of sketches and songs. While the show was a massive hit—even winning a Grammy for its soundtrack—it felt like a detour that had lasted too long.
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He didn't "break out" in Hollywood until his late 40s. That’s a huge gap. He was 50 when he finally got an Oscar nod for Street Smart (1987), playing a pimp named Fast Black. It’s the role he calls his favorite because it was "as far away from me as I can get."
Think about that. He went from a "Vegetable Vampire" to a brutal street pimp. That’s range.
What We Can Learn From the Easy Reader Days
Honestly, the "Easy Reader" era wasn't a waste. It was a masterclass in repetition and presence. If you can keep a kid’s attention while explaining the silent "e," you can command a courtroom in a legal thriller.
Actionable Insights from Freeman’s Journey:
- Don't Fear the "Low" Work: Freeman didn't love being a kids' show star, but he used those 780 episodes to learn how to use his voice and react to a camera. It was his boot camp.
- The "Yawn" Secret: Even today, Freeman tells aspiring voice actors to "yawn a lot" before performing. It relaxes the vocal cords and drops the tone. He likely figured this out while trying to find the right resonance for Mel Mounds.
- Patience is Mandatory: If you feel "stuck" in a role or a career path at 35, remember that Morgan Freeman was still playing a vampire for toddlers at 40. Success doesn't have a deadline.
- Identify the Trap: He knew the show could swallow his career. He stayed long enough to get paid but left before the "Easy Reader" persona became a permanent mask.
Next time you see a clip of a young, Afro-sporting Morgan Freeman singing about phonics, don't just laugh. You’re watching one of the world's greatest actors paying his dues in the most psychedelic way possible.