Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Last edited Fri Mar 29, 2024, 12:01 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
Updated 9:48 AM EDT, March 29, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries "Roots," has died. He was 87. Gossett's first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died in Santa Monica, California. A statement from the family said Gossett died Friday morning. No cause of death was revealed.
Gossett's cousin remembered a man who walked with Nelson Mandela and who also was a great joke teller, a relative who faced and fought racism with dignity and humor. "Never mind the awards, never mind the glitz and glamor, the Rolls-Royces and the big houses in Malibu. It's about the humanity of the people that he stood for," his cousin said.
Louis Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for "An Officer and a Gentleman." Gossett broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries "Roots," which depicted the atrocities of slavery on TV. The sprawling cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos.
Gossett became the third Black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category in 1983. He won for his performance as the intimidating Marine drill instructor in "An Officer and a Gentleman" opposite Richard Gere and Debra Winger. He also won a Golden Globe for the same role. "More than anything, it was a huge affirmation of my position as a Black actor," he wrote in his 2010 memoir, "An Actor and a Gentleman."
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/louis-gossett-jr-dies-1e86e1441ec8b614a282f3de22490a07
Damn damn damn!
One of his most iconic lines in the original (1977) "Roots" as "Fiddler" addressing Levar Burton's Kunta Kinte -
Article updated.
Original article -
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries "Roots," has died. He was 87.
Gossett's nephew told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night in Santa Monica, California. No cause of death was revealed.
Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for "An Officer and a Gentleman."
He earned his first acting credit in his Brooklyn high school's production of "You Can't Take It with You" while he was sidelined from the basketball team with an injury. "I was hooked -- and so was my audience," he wrote in his 2010 memoir "An Actor and a Gentleman."
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RIP sir 
RIP talented actor. You will be missed. 
It was better than the critics said............ 
