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Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win an Oscar for supporting actor, has died at 87.
Gossett Jr.’s nephew told The Associated Press that the Emmy Award-winning actor died Thursday in Santa Monica. In 1982, Gossett Jr. starred as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” for which he scored an Academy Award for best supporting actor and became the first Black man to win in the category.
The Brooklyn-born actor, who attended New York University, became one of the most famous Black actors with decades of commercial and critical acclaim. In addition to his groundbreaking Oscar win, the pioneering talent won an Emmy for his role in the TV miniseries “Roots” based on Alex Haley’s book of the same name.
Throughout his life, the actor publicly battled a slew of health struggles. In 2010, Gossett announced his prostate cancer diagnosis and a decade later, in December 2020, Gossett was hospitalized with COVID-19.
This story is being updated.
