Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV series Roots, has died aged 87. Gossett’s nephew told The Associated Press that the actor died on Thursday night in Santa Monica, California.
Gossett attended New York University on a basketball and drama scholarship. He was soon acting and singing on TV shows hosted by David Susskind, Ed Sullivan, Red Buttons, Merv Griffin, Jack Paar and Steve Allen. Gossett became friendly with James Dean and studied acting with Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau and Steve McQueen at an off-shoot of the Actors Studio taught by Frank Silvera.
Within minutes, he was stopped by eight sheriff’s officers, who had him lean against the car and made him open the boot while they called the car rental agency before letting him go. “Though I understood that I had no choice but to put up with this abuse, it was a terrible way to be treated, a humiliating way to feel,” Gossett wrote in his memoir.
He founded the Eracism Foundation to help create a world where racism does not exist. Gossett made a series of guest appearances on such shows as Bonanza, The Rockford Files, The Mod Squad, McCloud and a memorable turn with Richard Pryor on The Partridge Family. 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. He also won a Golden Globe for the same role.
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