Injured Freeman and His Wife of 24 Years File for Divorce

Morgan Freeman, the Academy Award winning actor who recently survived a serious single-car accident, is divorcing his wife of 24 years, Myrna Colley-Lee, several media reports quoted Freeman's business partner as saying.

The “Dark Knight" actor and Colley-Lee, a costume designer for theater, have filed for divorce, Bill Luckett, who co-owns a restaurant and blues club in Clarksdale, Miss., with Freeman, told "Access Hollywood" Wednesday.

The surprising news comes just days after the 71-year-old actor and his female companion, Demaris Meyer of Memphis, had a car accident. The versatile actor, who has performed in numerous roles from children's television to Shakespearean drama, was driving a1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer, who reportedly is a longtime friend of Morgan's wife, near his home in Charleston, Mississippi, when his car suddenly went off the road and flipped over several times before coming to a rest.

Morgan and his 48-year-old female companion Meyer were extracted from the car with the help of the Jaws of Life (hydraulic cutters), and were airlifted to the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center in Memphis for treatment.

The Sunday-night car accident has left the actor with broken arm and elbow. Morgan had surgery on his left arm and hand on Monday. However, his recovery is expected to take months, and he is required to wear a neck brace for six to eight months, and his arm will take several months to heal.

Morgan is expected to be released in a few days from the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, known as The Med, where he is being treated.

Luckett, the actor’s Mississippi-based attorney and business partner, says the divorce was in the works before the accident. Freeman and his wife Colley-Lee “are involved in a divorce action,” he said adding that the two have been living separately since December of 2007 for legal and practical purposes.

Morgan tied the holy knot with his wife Myrna Colley-Lee on June 16, 1984 after eight years of dating.

Born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman is an Academy Award-winning American actor, film director, and film narrator. He rose to fame with his appearances in a string of well-regarded motion pictures, including “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Lean on Me,” “Glory”, and “Million Dollar Baby”.

In 2004, Freeman won an Oscar for his supporting role in "Million Dollar Baby." He is the co-star of the most recently released summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight”.

Freeman is married twice. He was previously married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967 until 1979. The actor has two sons, Alfonso and Saifoulaye, from previous relationships. He adopted his first wife's daughter, Deena, and the couple also had a fourth child, Morgana.