LOS ANGELES — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win an Oscar for best supporting actor and an Emmy for his role in the influential TV miniseries “Roots,” has passed away at the age of 87.
Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett informed The Associated Press that the actor passed away in Santa Monica, California. A statement from the family announced that Gossett passed away on Friday morning. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Gossett’s cousin recalled a man who walked alongside Nelson Mandela and who was also known for his great sense of humor, a relative who faced and battled against racism with grace and humor.
“Forget about the awards, the glamour, the Rolls-Royces, and the lavish homes in Malibu. It's about the compassion for the people he stood for,” his cousin said.
Louis Gossett always considered his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success coming to him at a young age and propelling him towards his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Gossett gained fame on television as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which portrayed the horrors of slavery. The extensive cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and John Amos.
Gossett became the third Black nominee for an Oscar in the category of best supporting actor in 1983. He won for his portrayal of the intimidating Marine drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman” alongside Richard Gere and Debra Winger. He also received a Golden Globe for the same role.
“More than anything, it was a significant affirmation of my position as a Black actor,” he wrote in his 2010 memoir, “An Actor and a Gentleman.”
He earned his first acting credit in his high school's performance of “You Can't Take It with You” while he was sidelined from the basketball team due to an injury.
“I was captivated — and so was my audience,” he wrote in his memoir.
His English teacher encouraged him to audition for “Take a Giant Step” in Manhattan. He landed the role and made his Broadway debut in 1953 at the age of 16.
“I was too naive to be nervous,” Gossett wrote. “Looking back, I should have been terrified as I stepped onto that stage, but I wasn't.”
Gossett attended New York University on a basketball and drama scholarship. He soon began acting and singing on TV shows hosted by David Susskind, Ed Sullivan, Red Buttons, Merv Griffin, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen.
Gossett became friends with James Dean and studied acting with Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau, and Steve McQueen at a branch of the Actors Studio taught by Frank Silvera.
In 1959, Gossett received high praise for his role in the Broadway production of “A Raisin in the Sun” alongside Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Diana Sands.
He went on to become a sensation on Broadway, replacing Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.
Gossett first went to Hollywood in 1961 to film the movie adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun.” He had unpleasant memories of that trip, staying in a motel infested with cockroaches that was one of the few places that allowed Black people.
In 1968, he returned to Hollywood for a significant role in “Companions in Nightmare,” NBC's first made-for-TV movie featuring Melvyn Douglas, Anne Baxter, and Patrick O’Neal.
This time, Gossett was checked into the Beverly Hills Hotel and Universal Studios had arranged for him to use a convertible. On his way back to the hotel after picking up the car, he was pulled over by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s officer who instructed him to lower the radio volume and put up the car’s roof before allowing him to continue.
Shortly after that, he was pulled over by eight sheriff’s officers, who had him stand against the car and made him open the trunk while they contacted the car rental agency before letting him go.
“Even though I knew I had no option but to endure this mistreatment, it was a terrible way to be treated, a humiliating way to feel,” Gossett wrote in his memoir. “I realized this was happening because I was Black and had been showing off with a fancy car — which, in their view, I had no right to be driving.”
After having dinner at the hotel, he went for a walk and was stopped a block away by a police officer, who informed him he had violated a law forbidding walking around residential Beverly Hills after 9 p.m. Two other officers arrived and Gossett said he was chained to a tree and handcuffed for three hours. He was eventually freed when the original police car returned.
“Now I had come face-to-face with racism, and it was an ugly sight,” he wrote. “But it was not going to destroy me.”
In the late 1990s, Gossett said he was pulled over by police on the Pacific Coast Highway while driving his restored 1986 Rolls Royce Corniche II. The officer told him he looked like someone they were searching for, but the officer recognized Gossett and left.
He established the Eracism Foundation to help create a world where racism doesn’t exist.
Gossett made a series of guest appearances on TV shows like “Bonanza,” “The Rockford Files,” “The Mod Squad,” “McCloud” and a memorable appearance with Richard Pryor on “The Partridge Family.”
In August 1969, Gossett had been partying with members of the Mamas and the Papas when they were invited to actor Sharon Tate’s house. He headed home first to shower and change clothes. As he was getting ready to leave, he caught a news flash on TV about Tate’s murder. She and others were killed by Charles Manson’s associates that night.
“There had to be a reason for my escaping this bullet,” he wrote.
Louis Cameron Gossett was born on May 27, 1936, in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York, to Louis Sr., a porter, and Hellen, a nurse. He later added Jr. to his name to honor his father.
“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 Dave Karger’s 2024 book “50 Oscar Nights.”
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,” he said in the book. “I need to be free of it.”
Gossett appeared in TV movies such as “The Story of Satchel Paige,” “Backstairs at the White House, “The Josephine Baker Story,” for which he won another Golden Globe, and “Roots Revisited.”
But he said winning an Oscar didn’t change the fact that all his roles were supporting ones.
He played an obstinate patriarch in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple.”
Gossett had difficulties with alcohol and cocaine addiction for many years after he won an Oscar. He went to rehab, where he was diagnosed with toxic mold syndrome, which he linked to his house in Malibu.
In 2010, Gossett revealed he had prostate cancer, which he said was discovered early. In 2020, he was admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
He is also survived by sons Satie, who is a producer-director from his second marriage, and Sharron, a chef whom he adopted after seeing the 7-year-old in a TV segment on children in desperate situations. His first cousin is actor Robert Gossett.
Gossett's first marriage to Hattie Glascoe was annulled. His second marriage, to Christina Mangosing, ended in divorce in 1975, as did his third marriage to actor Cyndi James-Reese in 1992.
