Freeman leaves hospital

Actor Morgan Freeman was discharged from hospital today as his lawyer confirmed the star and his wife were set to divorce after 24 years together.

The Oscar-winning actor, who was being treated for broken bones following a serious car crash last weekend, was discharged from the Regional Medical Centre in Memphis, Tennessee, the hospital’s spokesman Kathy Stringer said.

Freeman was with a female passenger, Demaris Meyer who was also injured, when the car he was driving overturned several times and landed in a ditch on a highway in rural Mississippi shortly before midnight local time on Sunday (6am Irish time on Monday).

Ms Meyer, 48, a FedEx employee who has been described as a friend of the star, was “in better condition than Morgan”, the actor’s lawyer Bill Luckett said.

He also told today’s Memphis Commercial-Appeal newspaper that a divorce action was pending for the actor and Myrna Colley-Lee, his wife of 24 years.

Mr Luckett, who has previously said that Freeman would need three to four months to recover from his injuries, refused to provide further details of the divorce.

No divorce papers have been filed in Tallahatchie County where Freeman owns a home with Mrs Colley-Lee, said Tallahatchie County Chancery Clerk Anita Mullen Greenwood.

It is thought heavy rain may have been part of the cause for the crash.

Witnesses said the 71-year-old actor was unconscious immediately afterwards and the road was slick from a heavy rainfall that left water in the ditch surrounding the car up to eight inches deep.

Both Freeman and Ms Meyer were understood to have been wearing seatbelts when the crash happened north of the small town of Ruleville in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Police said they did not believe alcohol or drugs played a role in the accident.

Freeman, who plays Lucius Fox in the latest Batman movie 'The Dark Knight', was airlifted from the scene to the hospital, around 90 miles away in Memphis, Tennessee.

The star, who won an Oscar in 2005 for his role in 'Million Dollar Baby', lives near Charleston with his wife on a 126-acre ranch with a main house, peach trees and horse stables.