Jeanette Adair Bradshaw was Morgan Freeman’s first wife, and their marriage lasted thirteen years. Here’s everything we know about her life as the actor’s wife.
Morgan Freeman is widely known for two significant things. First, his incredible talent and reverberating voice, and second, his inconsistencies in his marriages and relationships. His personal life has been filled with a lot of drama and speculation, from cheating scandals to some predatory allegations towards his late grandchild.
Today, we look into the life of the actor’s first wife, their marriage, and her life after being with the star.
Who Is Jeanette Adair Bradshaw?
Jeanette Adair Bradshaw is an African-American woman famous for her previous marriage to world-renowned actor Morgan Freeman. She is the first woman the “Last Knights” actor got married to.
Jeanette prefers a private life and has kept most of her life away from the public’s prying eyes. Therefore, information about her date of birth, upbringing, and early life is majorly unknown.
It is also unknown if she has any older or younger siblings or who her parents were. It was a deliberate act by Jeanette to keep these from the media as she didn’t want the unnecessary attention on her family members.
How Did Jeanette Adair Bradshaw Meet Morgan Freeman?
The exact story of how Jeanette met Freeman remains a mystery to curious fans. Their love story dates back to the actor’s early days when he was still going around trying to get into the movie industry. He was just a regular guy with no riches trying to make headway.
The couple met sometime in the early 60s and took an interest in each other. They began dating and were reportedly really good together. While Morgan was still in his struggling actor phase, Jeanette was one person who stood by him through it all.
She was reportedly in her early twenties and had a kid named Deena Adair from a previous relationship. The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony on October 22, 1967.
Not long after, Freeman’s career took off hugely. She was his cheerleader through the good and bad times that came with his newly found fame and success for almost 13 years.
Jeanette Adair Bradshaw and Morgan Freeman’s Divorce
The couple stayed together for almost 13 years before Jeanette filed for divorce in 1979. The news took off in the media, and fans were heartbroken by this separation. The real reason for the divorce remains unknown, but various sources say it was as a result of Freeman’s many extramarital affairs.
The divorce was finalized on November 19, 1979, and they went their separate ways. Due to Jeanette’s lowkey lifestyle, the divorce was not messy and was mainly without much drama, unlike the divorce between Freeman and his second wife, Myrna Colley-Lee.
Jeanette Adair Bradshaw’s Children
The ex-celebrity wife has two biological children, but only one was fathered by Morgan Freeman. When they married, the “Skyfall” actor adopted Jeanette’s daughter, Deena, whom she had in a previous relationship.
Deena Adair became Deena Freeman and remains his child by law to date. During their marriage, the couple also had another daughter named Morgana Freeman. Morgana was named after her father, using the feminine version of his name.
She has been seen on multiple occasions accompanying her father to his red carpet events and on other causal outings. She was also her father’s plus-one at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie “Oblivion” in 2013.
Apart from these children mentioned above, Jeanette and Morgan cared for two other kids. These children were born out of wedlock following their father’s extramarital affairs with several women.
The oldest of the three is Morgan’s first son, Alfonso Rene Freeman. He was born not long after his father began an affair with a woman named Loletha Polk-Adkins. Alfonso is one of Freeman’s children following in his footsteps career-wise.
Another child was born from one of Freeman’s affairs in 1960 while he was still married to his first wife, Jeanette. This child is Saifoulaye Freeman, and his father majorly neglected him during his childhood. His mother majorly raised him alongside his stepmother, who helped sometimes.
However, the identity of Saifoulaye’s mum is still unknown to date. The celebrity kid keeps most of his information closely guarded and has not publicly revealed much about himself. His father mentioned in an interview that Saifoulaye is a fight instructor, but more details about his professional life and where his practice is situated are unknown.