Los Angeles City College unveiled its newly renovated Cinema/TV department theater dedicating it to Golden Globe-winning actor Morgan Freeman. Freeman is a distinguished alum of the school – one of the city’s oldest educational institutions – and he is in good company: Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, Mark Hamill, and Laurence Fishburne also took classes here on their way to legendary careers.

The HFPA endowed LACC with a gift of $2 million in 2015 benefitting the college’s School of Cinema. The funds were used to establish new facilities in the HFPA Center for Cinema and Television, including the renovation of the theater where students learn their craft. For the dedication, Mr. Freeman was back to his old stomping grounds to unveil the theater and to hold a master class for LACC students who welcomed him back to hi sold Alma Mater with a standing ovation.  Freeman, recipient of the Cecil B deMille award in 2012, regaled students with memories of how he had signed up for acting classes 60 years ago as a 21-year old freshly  discharged from the military and credited the school for honing the skills which would lead him to worldwide success, beginning with, as the famous baritone put it, tuning “these pipes.”