He played inspirational New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark in the based-on-a-true-story movie Lean On Me.And on Wednesday, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Clark who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 82.Freeman told People: 'Joe was a father figure to school kids. He was the best of the best in terms of education.' He played inspirational New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark in the based-on-a-true-story movie Lean On Me.