By BETH HARRIS (Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louis Gossett Jr., who was the first Black man to win an Oscar for best supporting actor and also won an Emmy for his role in the important TV miniseries “Roots,” has died at the age of 87.
Gossett’s cousin Neal L. Gossett informed The Associated Press that the actor passed away in Santa Monica, California. The family's statement noted that Gossett died on Friday morning, without disclosing the cause of death.
Gossett’s cousin remembered a man who walked with Nelson Mandela and was known for his sense of humor. He also mentioned Gossett's dignity in the face of racism.
“More important than the awards, fame, luxury cars, and big houses in Malibu was the humanity that he stood for,” his cousin said.
Louis Gossett often described his early career as a story similar to Cinderella in reverse, with success finding him at a young age and propelling him towards his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Gossett gained recognition on the small screen for his role as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which depicted the horrors of slavery. The cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and John Amos.
In 1983, Gossett became the third Black actor to be nominated for an Oscar in the best supporting actor category. He won for his performance as the tough 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 huge 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 production of “You Can’t Take It with You” while he was injured and unable to play basketball.
“I was hooked — 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 part and made his Broadway debut at 16 in 1953.
“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 quickly started appearing 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, led by Frank Silvera.
In 1959, Gossett received high praise for his performance in the Broadway production of “A Raisin in the Sun” alongside Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Diana Sands.
He went on to become a star on Broadway, replacing Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.
Gossett first went to Hollywood in 1961 to work on the film version of “A Raisin in the Sun.” He had unpleasant memories of that trip, staying in a motel infested with cockroaches, one of the few places that allowed Black people to stay.
In 1968, he came back to Hollywood for a big part in “Companions in Nightmare,” NBC’s first TV movie that starred Melvyn Douglas, Anne Baxter and Patrick O’Neal.
This time, Gossett was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel and Universal Studios had given him a convertible. While driving back to the hotel after getting the car, he was pulled over by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s officer who told him to lower the radio volume and put up the car’s roof before letting him go.
Shortly after, he was stopped by eight sheriff’s officers, who had him lean against the car and open the trunk while they contacted the car rental agency before letting him go.
“Though I realized that I had no option but to endure this mistreatment, it was a horrible 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 flaunting with a fancy car — which, in their view, I had no right to be driving.”
After dining at the hotel, he went for a walk and was stopped a block away by a police officer, who informed him he had broken a law prohibiting 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 released when the original police car returned.
“Now I had come face-to-face with racism, and it was an awful sight,” he wrote. “But it was not going to destroy me.”
In the late 1990s, Gossett mentioned being 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 shows like “Bonanza,” “The Rockford Files,” “The Mod Squad,” “McCloud” and a memorable turn 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 went home first to shower and change clothes. As he was getting ready to leave, he saw 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 like “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 mentioned that even though he won an Oscar, it didn't change the fact that all his roles were supporting ones.
He portrayed a stubborn father figure in the 2023 version of “The Color Purple.”
Gossett dealt with alcohol and cocaine addiction for many years after winning an Oscar. He went to rehab, where doctors diagnosed him with toxic mold syndrome, which he believed was caused by his house in Malibu.
In 2010, Gossett revealed that he had prostate cancer, which was detected in the early stages. In 2020, he was admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
He is also survived by his sons Satie, a producer-director from his second marriage, and Sharron, a chef whom he adopted after seeing him as a 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.
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According to a family statement, it has been corrected that Gossett passed away Friday morning and not Thursday night.
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Reporting was contributed by Associated Press journalists Mark Kennedy in New York and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee.
