The 87-year-old Louis Gossett Jr., the first African-American to receive an Academy Award for supporting actor, has passed away.
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The 87-year-old Louis Gossett Jr., the first African-American to receive an Academy Award for supporting actor, has passed away.
Subject: CBS/AP Updated: March 29, 2024 at 3:02 PM EDT
Having won an Emmy for his performance in the groundbreaking TV miniseries “Roots,” Louis Gossett Jr. became the first Black man to receive an Oscar for supporting acting. He passed away. This man was 87 years old.
A cousin named Neal L. Gossett confirmed the news of Gossett’s passing to CBS News. Associated Press reports that the actor passed on Thursday night in Santa Monica, California. We don’t know what killed them.
The news of our father’s passing this morning is brought to us with the deepest sadness. Please accept our deepest sympathies. We are truly grateful. The family asked for privacy at this trying time, and they asked that others do the same in a message they released on Friday.
Success came to Gossett at a young age and continued to propel him forward in his career until he won an Oscar for “An Officer and a Gentleman.” He always saw his early career as a reverse Cinderella narrative.
While he was out with an injury that prevented him from playing basketball, he had his acting debut in a school production of “You Can’t Take It with You” in Brooklyn.
He stated in his memoir “An Actor and a Gentleman” published in 2010 that he and his audience were captivated.
He was pressured by his English teacher to visit Manhattan and audition for “Take a Giant Step.” He made his Broadway debut in 1953, at the tender age of 16, after landing the part.
It was because “I knew too little to be nervous,” Gossett wrote. “In retrospect, I should have been scared to death as I walked onto that stage, but I wasn’t.”
Scholarships for both basketball and theater allowed Gossett to attend New York University. Before long, he was performing on television shows presented by Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Red Buttons, Merv Griffin, Ed Sullivan, and David Susskind. At Frank Silvera’s offshoot of the Actors Studio, Gossett befriended James Dean and took acting classes with Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau, and Steve McQueen.
Along with Sidney Poitier, Diana Sands, and Ruby Dee, Gossett was cast in the 1959 Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun” and garnered critical praise for his performance.
Working with Sidney Poitier, Diana Sands, and Ruby Dee was an honor. “What an honor,” Gossett exclaimed to CBS.
Upcoming 2020 events. Demonstrated to me the good and the bad. I learned that from them. And I was enamored. It’s permeating my entire body.
Sammy Davis Jr. replaced Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” in 1964, and Gossett went on to become a Broadway star.
By 1961, Gossett had made her first trip to Hollywood, where she had filmed “A Raisin in the Sun.” On that journey, he stayed in a cockroach-infested motel—one of the few accommodations that allowed Black people—and he had resentful recollections of it.
He went back to Hollywood in 1968 for a big part in NBC’s first made-for-TV movie, “Companions in Nightmare,” which co-starred Melvyn Douglas, Patrick O’Neal, and Anne Baxter.
Universal Studios had rented a convertible and Gossett had checked into the Beverly Hills Hotel. A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy pulled him over on his way back to the hotel after he picked up the vehicle. The deputy told him to lower the volume and raise the roof before releasing him.
Just a few minutes later, eight sheriff’s deputies had him pinned to the vehicle, forced to open the trunk while they contacted the rental car company, and then released him.
“My system experienced an anomaly. Keep an eye out and be cautious, you know. When asked about the incident in 2020, Gossett explained that it had a negative impact on him because of the sensation. “When people say that Black lives matter, then?” Because they harmed themselves as much as they harmed me, every life matters.
Following his supper at the hotel, he decided to go for a stroll. However, he was abruptly halted a block away by a police officer, who informed him that he had violated a regulation that forbade walking around residential areas of Beverly Hills after 9 p.m. Gossett claimed that two other officers came and tied and shackled him to a tree for three hours. When the original police car came back, he was finally set free.
“Now I had come face-to-face with racism, and it was an ugly sight,” said he. “But it was not going to destroy me.”
According to Gossett, the cops stopped his refurbished 1986 Rolls Royce Corniche II on Pacific Coast Highway in the late 1990s. The police officer informed him that he resembled a wanted individual, but upon realizing that it was Gossett, the officer departed.
In his efforts to make the globe a racist-free zone, he established the Eracism Foundation.
Among the many shows that featured Gossett’s guest spots were “Bonanza,” “The Rockford Files,” “The Mod Squad,” “McCloud,” and “The Partridge Family,” where he had a notable turn opposite Richard Pryor.
Gossett was invited to the home of actor Sharon Tate in August 1969 while she was out partying with Mamas and Papas members. First, he went home to change into clean clothes and take a shower. Just as he was about to depart, he saw a news flash on TV regarding the murder of Tate. Charles Manson’s henchmen murdered her and others that night.
“There had to be a reason for my escaping this bullet,” he concluded.
Louis Cameron Gossett was born to nurses Hellen and Louis Sr. on May 27, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, specifically in the Coney Island neighborhood. Subsequently, he decided to honor his father by adding Jr. to his name.
Playing the role of Fiddler in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which portrayed the horrors of enslavement on television, Gossett made her television debut. Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and John Amos were all part of the extensive ensemble.
In 1983, Gossett became the third Black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for supporting actor. His role as the imposing Marine drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman” co-starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger earned him an Academy Award, although he was surprised to learn of his win when speaking with CBS News.
Saying, ‘They mentioned your name!’ my agent smacked me across the breast. The role earned Gossett a Golden Globe, and she opened out about how she had to stare at him because she thought she was asleep. There was cheering when I turned around. Apparently, it’s not feasible. Thus, it is an artifact from the past.
Going forward, Gossett claims he is able to pick out “good parts” in films because to his victory. When asked about his lengthy career in 2020, he told CBS News that he saw it as “a blessing” and planned to continue working for as long as he could.
“As long as I’m here, there is a job to do for the benefit of us all, for what it’s worth,” added the president.
Among Gossett’s television appearances are “Backstairs at the White House,” “The Josephine Baker Story” (for which he received another Golden Globe), “Roots Revisited,” and “The Story of Satchel Paige.” In the 2023 version of “The Color Purple,” he portrayed a stubborn patriarch.
Even after winning an Oscar, Gossett battled an addiction to cocaine and alcohol. He blamed his Malibu home for his toxic mold syndrome diagnosis, which he received while in rehabilitation.
Gossett revealed his diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2010, claiming it was detected at an early stage. He was admitted to the hospital in 2020 because to COVID-19.
Two boys, Satie (a producer-director) and Sharron (a chef)—the latter of whom he adopted after witnessing a TV feature on youngsters in desperate situations—survive him. Robert Gossett, an actor, is his first cousin.
The marriage between Gossett and Hattie Glascoe was nullified. Both of his second marriages—to Christina Mangosing in 1975 and performer Cyndi James-Reese in 1992—ended in divorce.
