Morgan Freeman not retiring any time soon

LOS ANGELES, June 19 (UPI) -- Morgan Freeman says he'll be getting back to work after receiving a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

The velvet-voiced star of classics such as "Shawshank Redemption" and "Driving Miss Daisy" was feted at a gala presentation ceremony that was taped for airing Sunday night on TV Land.

He told The Washington Post last week that being honored for a lifetime of work doesn't mean his lifetime of work has been completed.

"It's kind of like, hey, you've done your thing, now sit down," Freeman said. "I'm not quite ready to do that."

Freeman, 74, said he was friends with three other AFI award winners, Clint Eastwood, Sidney Poitier and director Mike Nichols, who "didn't sit down after they got one."

"So I don't have to worry too much about it," he said.

Freeman credited his long career on Broadway with laying the groundwork for a successful jump to Hollywood and for developing a stage voice that is "a soundman's dream."