Louis Gossett Jr., who was the first Black man to win an Oscar for supporting actor and also won an Emmy for his role in the important TV show “Roots,” He passed away at 87 in Los Angeles.
Louis Gossett Jr., the First Black Actor Dies at 87
Neal L. Gossett, who is the first cousin of the actor, confirmed to The Associated Press that the actor passed away in Santa Monica, California. The family released a statement saying that Gossett died on Friday morning. The cause of his death remained undisclosed.
Gossett’s cousin remembered a person who walked alongside Nelson Mandela. This person was also really good at telling jokes. They were a family member who dealt with racism in a brave and funny way.
“Don’t worry about the fancy stuff like awards, expensive cars, and mansions in Malibu. What really matters is the kindness and caring for others that he believed in,” his cousin explained.
Louis Gossett saw his early career like a reverse Cinderella tale. He found success at a young age, which pushed him towards winning an Academy Award for his role in “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Gossett became well-known on TV in 1977 for his role as Fiddler in the miniseries “Roots.” This show was important because it showed the terrible things that happened during slavery. The cast was big and included actors like Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and John Amos.
In 1983, Gossett was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “An Officer and a Gentleman” as a tough Marine instructor. He became the third Black actor to get nominated in that category. He received both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance in the same role.
“In his 2010 book ‘An Actor and a Gentleman,’ he expressed, ‘It solidified my identity as a Black actor above all else,'”
A lucky break
He got his start in acting when he was in high school in Brooklyn. It happened while he was unable to play basketball because he was injured. He got his first acting role in the school’s play called “You Can’t Take It with You.”
“In my memoir, I penned, ‘I was captivated — and so were those watching.'”
His teacher encouraged him to go to Manhattan and audition for a play called “Take a Giant Step.” He got the role and performed on Broadway in 1953 when he was just 16 years old.
“I didn’t know much, so I wasn’t nervous,” Gossett said. “Looking back, I should have been really scared when I went on stage, but I wasn’t.”
Gossett went to New York University for basketball and drama, where he got a scholarship. He began his career in acting and singing, appearing on television programs hosted by David Susskind, Ed Sullivan, Red Buttons, Merv Griffin, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen.
Gossett became friends with James Dean and learned acting from Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau, and Steve McQueen at a special school run by Frank Silvera.
In 1959, Gossett did a great job in a famous play called “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway. He starred alongside famous actors like Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Diana Sands, and people really liked his performance.
In 1964, he became a big hit on Broadway. He took over from Billy Daniels in the show “Golden Boy” alongside Sammy Davis Jr.
Racism, LA-style
In 1961, Gossett went to Hollywood for the first time to work on the movie “A Raisin in the Sun.” He didn’t have a good time there. The place he stayed was full of cockroaches, and it was one of the only places that would let Black people stay there.
In 1968, he went back to Hollywood to star in a big TV movie called “Companions in Nightmare” on NBC. It featured actors like Melvyn Douglas, Anne Baxter, and Patrick O’Neal.
This time, Gossett stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and Universal Studios got him a convertible car. While driving back to the hotel after getting the car, a police officer from Los Angeles County stopped him. The officer told him to lower the volume of the radio and put up the car’s roof before allowing him to continue.
Shortly after, eight sheriff’s officers stopped him. They had him stand by the car and open the trunk while they called the car rental agency. Afterward, they allowed him to leave.
“I realized I had to endure the mistreatment, but it was incredibly distressing and humiliating. It became clear to me that they were treating me poorly because of my race and the fact that I had…” a nice car, which they thought I shouldn’t have.”
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Following dinner at the hotel, he decided to take a stroll. But a police officer stopped him just a block away. The officer said he broke a law that says you can’t walk around residential Beverly Hills after 9 p.m. Two more officers came, and they chained him to a tree and put handcuffs on him for three hours. Finally, they let him go when the first police car came back.
“I encountered racism firsthand, and it was truly unpleasant,” he penned. “But I wasn’t going to let it ruin me.”
In the late 1990s, actor Louis Gossett Jr. got stopped by the police while driving his fancy car, a 1986 Rolls Royce Corniche II, on the Pacific Coast Highway. The officer thought he looked like someone they were looking for, but when he saw it was actually Gossett, he let him go.
He started the Eracism Foundation to make a world without racism.
A near-miss with the Manson family
Gossett made numerous TV appearances, including on shows such as “Bonanza,” “The Rockford Files,” “The Mod Squad,” and “McCloud.” He also shared a memorable role alongside Richard Pryor in an episode of “The Partridge Family.”
In August 1969, Gossett was hanging out with some members of a famous music group called the Mamas and the Papas. They received an invitation to visit the home of actor Sharon Tate. Gossett decided to go home first to take a shower and put on fresh clothes. While he was getting ready to leave, he saw a sudden news report on TV about Tate being murdered. She and some others were killed by people who were associated with a man named Charles Manson that very night.
“I must have had a reason for dodging that bullet,” he wrote.
Louis Cameron Gossett entered the world on May 27, 1936, hailing from Brooklyn, New York. His dad, Louis Sr., worked as a porter, and his mom, Hellen, was a nurse. He later added “Jr.” to his name to show respect for his dad.
In Dave Karger’s book “50 Oscar Nights,” Gossett said winning the Oscar helped him pick great roles in movies like ‘Enemy Mine,’ ‘Sadat,’ and ‘Iron Eagle.’
He said his statue was kept in a storage place.
In the book, he stated, ‘I’ll give it to a library, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore.'” “I just want to get rid of it.
Wins but no leads
Gossett appeared in television films such as “The Story of Satchel Paige,” “Backstairs at the White House,” and “The Josephine Baker Story.” He earned another Golden Globe for his role in “The Josephine Baker Story.” Story.” He also appeared in “Roots Revisited.”
He said that even though he won an Oscar, it didn’t change the fact that all the roles he played were supporting roles.
In the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple,” he starred as a stubborn father figure.
After winning his Oscar, Gossett had a hard time with alcohol and cocaine. He went to a place called rehab to get help. While there, doctors said he had something called toxic mold syndrome. He thought he got it from his house in Malibu.
In 2010, Gossett said he had prostate cancer, but it was found early. In 2020, he got COVID-19 and had to go to the hospital.
He had two sons named Satie and Sharron. Satie works as a producer-director and is from his second marriage. Sharron, who is a chef, was adopted after the man saw him on TV when he was 7 years old and in a difficult situation. He also has a cousin who is an actor named Robert Gossett.
Gossett’s first marriage to Hattie Glascoe was canceled. His second marriage to Christina Mangosing ended in separation in 1975, and so did his third marriage to actor Cyndi James-Reese in 1992.
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