Louis Gossett Jr. Has Died At 87
Legendary actor Louis Gossett Jr. has died at 87, according to the Associated Press. Gossett was the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar. He won for 1982’s An Officer and A Gentleman; he also won an Emmy for his role in 1978 in the seminal TV series Roots. A statement from his family said that he died Friday morning. No cause of death was revealed.
Gossett’s cousin Neal L. Gossett told the AP that Louis Gossett Jr. was a man who faced racism “with dignity and humor.” He said, “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.”
He first gained attention via his work on Roots. The eight-night miniseries based on Alex Haley’s 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family, aired in January of 1977 and also starred LeVar Burton, John Amos, Ben Vereen and Leslie Uggams, among others. As the Washington Post wrote at the time, “What makes Roots so compellingly unique is that television is finally dealing with the institution of slavery and its effect on succeeding generations of one family in a dramatic form.”
LeVar Burton tweeted about his former co-star, “One of the best to ever do it! Thank you Lou… for everything!”
One of the best to ever do it! Thank you, Lou… for everything!
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) March 29, 2024
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After winning an Emmy for Roots, he was nominated six more times, including for a role portraying the Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat, who made peace with Israel, in the 1983 TV movie Sadat. In 2015, he told Variety that it was his favorite role. “It was a challenge to play someone with a history like that… He transitioned from a hawk to a dove.”
In 1983, he became the third Black Oscar nominee in the Best Supporting Actor category, according to One of the best to ever do it! Thank you, Lou… for everything!
💜🙏🏾💜 pic.twitter.com/p6YjIo3WMx
“The Oscar gave me the ability of being able to choose good parts in movies like Enemy Mine, Sadat and Iron Eagle,” Gossett said in the 2024 book 50 Oscar Nights, per the BBC Newshour. In that same interview, he said his statue was in storage. “I’m going to donate it to a library so I don’t have to keep an eye on it; I need to be free of it.”
Gossett had relevant roles through the decades: he had a role in a 2013 episode of Boardwalk Empire, and in a 2014 episode of Madam Secretary. He had a recurring role in HBO’s 2019 miniseries Watchmen and was in last year’s remake of The Color Purple.
According to Variety, Gossett was married three times. His first marriage, in 1964, to Hattie Glascoe was annulled. He was married to Christina Mangosing from 1973-75 and to actress Cyndi James Gossett from 1987-92. Both of these marriages ended in divorce.
Survivors include a son, producer Satie Gossett, from Mangosing; an adopted son, Sharron, with Cyndi James Gossett; and a nephew, actor Robert Gossett.
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