Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win an Oscar for best supporting actor, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win a supporting actor Oscar for his role in An Officer And A Gentleman, has died aged 87.
The actor’s family released a statement confirming that he died on Friday morning.
“It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning,” the statement said.
“We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”
Gossett’s nephew told The Associated Press that the actor was in Santa Monica, California, at the time.
No cause of death was revealed.
Gere and Gossett in An Officer And A Gentlemen. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
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 in 1982.
He also won a Golden Globe for the same role.
“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 film expert, Dave Karger’s, 2024 book “50 Oscar Nights”.
He said at the time that his statue was in storage.
The star became the third black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category. Pic: AP
Born on 27 May 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, Gossett later added Junior to his name to honour his father.
He first started acting in school productions and at the age of 16 made his Broadway debut in the play Take A Giant Step.
Having studied at New York University on a basketball and drama scholarship, the actor became friends with Hollywood great James Dean and studied acting alongside Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau and Steve McQueen.
In 1959 he gained critical acclaim for his role in the Broadway production of A Raisin In The Sun, and in 1961 appeared in the film version of the same production.
Gossett in Roots in 1977. Pic: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Gossett’s big break on the small screen was as Fiddler in the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery.
He later won an Emmy Award for the role.
He also appeared in TV movies including The Story of Satchel Paige, Backstairs at the White House, The Josephine Baker Story – for which he won another Golden Globe – and Roots Revisited.
In 2023, he played patriarch, Ol’ Mister Johnson, in the musical remake of The Colour Purple, alongside Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks and Colman Dolmingo.
Gossett was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and hospitalised with COVID in 2020. Pic: AP
Throughout his career Gossett was subject to racism, including an incident in the late 1990s, when he said he was pulled over by police while driving his restored 1986 Rolls Royce Corniche II.
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An officer told him he looked like someone they were searching for, but the officer recognised Gossett and left.
He later founded the Eracism Foundation to “help create a world where racism does not exist”, according to the foundation’s website.
In the years after his Academy win, Gossett struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction. He went to rehab, where he was diagnosed with toxic mould syndrome – associated with prolonged exposure to mould which he attributed to his house in Malibu.
Pic: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
In 2010, Gossett announced he had prostate cancer, which he said was caught in the early stages and in 2020, he went into hospital after contracting COVID-19.
The actor married three times, the third to actor Cyndi James-Reese. The pair divorced in 1992.
He is survived by his two sons – Satie, a producer and director from his second marriage, and Sharron, a chef whom he adopted after seeing the seven-year-old in a TV segment on children in desperate situations.
Entertainment
Dancing On Ice dedicated to The Vivienne as vigil held in Liverpool to remember drag queen
RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vivienne was remembered at a vigil in their home city of Liverpool on Sunday night.
James Lee Williams, originally from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, died on 5 January aged 32.
Hundreds of fans and friends of The Vivienne gathered at Liverpool‘s St George’s Hall.
Buildings across the city were lit up in green to commemorate the drag queen and their role as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard Of Oz musical.
Fellow drag queen Danny Beard said the vigil was “a celebration of someone who touched the lives of so many”.
“The Vivienne was one of the world’s most recognisable drag queens, a proper world class entertainer,” they added.
“And above all a shining beacon in all of our lives and especially for the LGBT community.”
James Lee Williams – better known as The Vivienne. Pic: PA
Since The Vivienne first rose to prominence in 2019, they appeared on a number of TV programmes, including Blankety Blank over the Christmas period.
The first episode in the series of Dancing On Ice on Sunday night also featured a tribute to The Vivienne, who competed on the 2023 series.
Presenter Holly Willoughby said many would have been “saddened by the tragic news”.
“They were a huge part of our show, making it all the way to the final in 2023,” she added.
“They will be very sorely missed and our thoughts are with The Vivienne’s loved ones at this time. So sad.”
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In a tribute released after Mr Williams’s death, a Dancing On Ice spokesperson said they were “deeply saddened” by the news.
They said Mr Williams had made “TV history through their groundbreaking and spellbinding skating partnership”, becoming the first drag act to reach the Dancing On Ice final.
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