Oscar Winners’ Surprising TV Starts: From Kate Winslet’s Sci-Fi Turn to Heath Ledger’s Soap Opera Days (PHOTOS)

He’s an Academy Award winner for his role as a retired boxer in 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, but you might be surprised to know that Morgan Freeman’s got a bit of a goofy side as well. From 1971 to 1977, the actor starred on 780 episodes of The Electric Company, a variety show that taught basic grammar and phonetics through sketches, songs, and silly cartoons.