Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87.
Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died in Santa Monica, California. A statement from the family said Gossett died Friday morning. No cause of death was revealed.
Gossett’s cousin remembered a man who walked with Nelson Mandela and who also was a great joke teller, a relative who faced and fought racism with dignity and humor.
“Never mind the awards, never mind the glitz and glamor, the Rolls-Royces and the big houses in Malibu. It’s about the humanity of the people that he stood for,” his cousin said.
He was the first Black man in history to win the prize, and also won a Golden Globe for the same performance, opposite co-stars Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
More recently, he starred in the 2023 musical period drama film The Colour Purple, based on the stage musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from Alice Walker’s 1985 novel. The film received critical praise and also starred Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P Henson, Colman Domingo and Halle Bailey.
Gossett was born on 27 May 1936 in the Coney Island district of Brooklyn, New York to his father, Louis, a porter and his mother, Hellen, who was a nurse. He added the suffix “Jr” later in his career to honour his father.
