'Malcolm X' actor Albert Freeman dies

LOS ANGELES -- Albert Freeman Jr., the veteran actor who played Elijah Muhammad in Spike Lee's epic film "Malcolm X," has died. He was 78.

Howard University in Washington, D.C., confirmed his death Friday night. Freeman taught acting there and served as chairman and artistic director of its theater arts department.

"He was a brilliant professor, a renowned actor and a master director," university spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton said in a statement.

Freeman earned an NAACP Image Award for playing Malcolm X's mentor in Lee's 1992 biopic. He also received an Emmy nomination for his role as Malcolm X in the 1979 miniseries "Roots: The Next Generations."

-- AP