Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. has died. He was 87.
The actor’s cousin Neal L. Gossett confirmed his death to the Associated Press, revealing that Louis died on Thursday, March 28, in Santa Monica, California. A cause of death has not been publicly shared.
“Never mind the awards, never mind the glitz and glamour, the Rolls-Royces and the big houses in Malibu,” Neal told the outlet. “It’s about the humanity of the people that he stood for.”
Louis got his big break in 1953 at the age of 16 when he made his Broadway debut in Take a Giant Step. Six years later, he landed the role of George Jurchison in the New York stage production of A Raisin in the Sun opposite Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Diana Sands. Louis reprised his role in the 1961 movie adaptation.
After making his way to Hollywood, Louis was cast as Fiddler in the 1977 miniseries Roots about slavery.
“It’s a challenge to bring that resurrection character as a survivor in America, who does not remember being a slave, for him to survive,” Louis recalled to ScreenRant in March 2022. “Without Fiddler, Kunta Kinte [played by LeVar Burton] does not exist.”
He added, “All my favorite actors and actresses were in that, and they had choices, including OJ Simpson, who got a role. You know? I had to run too, so it’s OK. But anyway, there was all kinds of wonderful actors and actresses, Cecily Tyson, Maya Angelou.”
Louis was perhaps best known for playing drill instructor Emil Foley in 1983’s An Officer and a Gentleman, a role for which he won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
“More than anything, it was a huge affirmation of my position as a Black actor,” Louis wrote in his 2010 memoir, An Actor and a Gentleman. “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.”
Louis’ Oscar win marked the first time that a Black man had earned the Best Supporting Actor trophy.
Louis previously battled prostate cancer in 2010, which had been caught in the early stages before he underwent treatment.
Louis is survived by sons Satie and Sharron, whom he shared with exes Christina Mangosing and Cyndi James-Reese, respectively. (Louis and Mangosing divorced in 1975, which was 17 years before his divorce from James-Reese was settled.)
