Louis Gossett Jr. Obit

 

Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87

He was not on the list.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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.

Louis Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Gossett broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which depicted the atrocities of slavery on TV. The sprawling cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos.

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.

“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 had earned his first acting credit in his Brooklyn high school’s production of “You Can’t Take It with You” while he was sidelined from the basketball team with an injury.

“I was hooked — and so was my audience,” he wrote in his memoir.

His English teacher urged him to go into Manhattan to try out for “Take a Giant Step.” He got the part and made his Broadway debut in 1953 at age 16.

“I knew too little to be nervous,” Gossett wrote. “In retrospect, I should have been scared to death as I walked onto that stage, but I wasn’t.”

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 offshoot of the Actors Studio taught by Frank Silvera.

In 1959, Gossett received critical acclaim for his role in the Broadway production of “A Raisin in the Sun” along with 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 went to Hollywood for the first time in 1961 to make the film version of “A Raisin in the Sun.” He had bitter memories of that trip, staying in a cockroach-infested motel that was one of the few places to allow Black people.

In 1968, he returned to Hollywood for a major role in “Companions in Nightmare,” NBC’s first made-for-TV movie that starred Melvyn Douglas, Anne Baxter and Patrick O’Neal.

This time, Gossett was booked into the Beverly Hills Hotel and Universal Studios had rented him a convertible. Driving back to the hotel after picking up the car, he was stopped by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s officer who ordered him to turn down the radio and put up the car’s roof before letting him go.

Within minutes, he was stopped by eight sheriff’s officers, who had him lean against the car and made him open the trunk 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. “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 dinner at the hotel, he went for a walk and was stopped a block away by a police officer, who told him he broke 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 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 founded the Eracism Foundation to help create a world where racism doesn’t 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.”

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 such TV movies 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 struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction for years after his Oscar win. He went to rehab, where he was diagnosed with toxic mold syndrome, which he attributed to his house in Malibu.

In 2010, Gossett announced he had prostate cancer, which he said was caught in the early stages. In 2020, he was hospitalized with COVID-19.

He also is survived by sons Satie, 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, to Christina Mangosing, ended in divorce in 1975 as did his third to actor Cyndi James-Reese in 1992.

 

Filmography

Film

Key

†            Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1961    A Raisin in the Sun      George Murchison       

1969    The Bushbaby            Tembo

1970    The Landlord            Copee 

1971    Skin Game   Jason O'Rourke        

1972    Travels with My Aunt            Zachary / 'Wordsworth'  

1973    The Fuzz Brothers            Francis Fuzz    

1973    The Laughing Policeman            Inspector James Larrimore        

1974    The White Dawn            Portagee         

1976    The River Niger            Dr. Dudley Stanton

1976    J. D.'s Revenge            Reverend Elija Bliss    

1977    The Deep    Henri Cloche

1977    The Choirboys            Calvin Motts  

1980    It Rained All Night the Day I Left      Leo Garcia 

1982    An Officer and a Gentleman            Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley   

1983    Jaws 3-D         Calvin Bouchard        

1984    Finders Keepers            Century           

1985    Enemy Mine    Jeriba 'Jerry' Shigan   

1986    Iron Eagle    Colonel Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

1986            Firewalker       Leo Porter  

1987    The Principal            Jake Phillips 

1987    A Gathering of Old Men            Mathu 

1988    Iron Eagle II            Colonel / Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

1989    The Punisher            Detective Jake Berkowitz        

1991    Cover Up       CIA Chief Lou Jackson           

1991    Toy Soldiers            Dean Parker 

1992    Aces: Iron Eagle III            Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

1992            Diggstown        Roy 'Honey Roy' Palmer 

1993            Monolith          Captain MacCandless  

1994            Flashfire          Ben Durand

1994    Blue Chips   Father Dawkins          

1994    A Good Man in Africa            Professor Sam Adekunle         

1994    Curse of the Starving Class    Ellis     

1995    Iron Eagle on the Attack            Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair (Ret.)  

1996            Managua         Paul     

1997    The Wall That Heals            Narrator          

1997    Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy            Corbeck         

1999            Terminal Countdown            Morgan           

2000    The Highwayman            Phil Bishop 

2002            Deceived        Colonel David Garrett            Direct-to-video release

2005            Window         Ralph Stanley Part of African American Short Films[3]

2005    Left Behind: World at War            President Gerald Fitzhugh           

2006    All In            Caps   

2006    Club Soda    'Doc'   

2007            Daddy's Little Girls            Willie   

2007    Cover            Detective Hicks          

2008    The Perfect Game            Cool Papa Bell         

2008    Delgo            Zahn            Voice

2009    Dog Jack     Grown Up Jed

2009            Shannon's Rainbow            Max Donovan         

2009    The Least Among You      Samuel Benton

2010    Smitty            Mr. Smith   

2010    Why Did I Get Married Too?            Porter  

2011    The Grace Card            George Wright 

2011    A Fonder Heart            Glen    

2011    The Lamp   The Genie  

2012    The Undershepherd            Bishop Redford           

2014    A Fighting Man            'Cubby'           

2014    The Dependables            Lou Jones   

2015    Boiling Pot            Detective Haven         

2017            Undercover Grandpa            Mother

2017    Double Play      'Coco' 

2017            Breaking Brooklyn            Miles Bryant 

2019    Foster Boy      Judge  

2019    The Cuban  Luis Garcia 

2019            Supervized       Pendle 

2021    Not to Forget  Pastor John    

2022    Three Months Benny  

2023    The Color Purple            Ol' Mister 

2024    IF †            Bear            Voice, post-production, posthumous release

TBA            Unplugged †    Amos Burton  Voice, filming

Television

Key

†            Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1958    The Big Story    Jamie Goodwin            Episode: "The Stubbornest Man"

1962    The Nurses William Taylor            Episode: "The Prisoner"

1967–1968            Cowboy in Africa            Fulah / Hemera            Episode: "Fang and Claw"

Episode: "The Quiet Death"

1968    The Invaders            Ollie            Episode: "The Vise"

1968    Daktari            Mkono            Episode: "Adam and Jenny"

1968            Companions in Nightmare            Lieutenant Adam McKay            NBC television film

1970    The Bill Cosby Show            'Hurricane' Smith            Episode: "The Return of Big Bad Bubba Bronson"

1970–1971            The Young Rebels            Isak Poole   15 episodes

1971    Big Fish, Little Fish            Jimmie Luton            Television film

1971    The Partridge Family  Sam            Episode: "Soul Club"

1971            Bonanza          Buck Walter            Episode: "The Desperado"

1971            Longstreet            Sergeant Cory            Episode: "The Way of the Intercepting Fist"

1971    The Bold Ones: The New Doctors            Dr. Karnes            Episode: "One Lonely Step"

1971    Alias Smith and Jones    Joe Sims            Episode: "The Bounty Hunter"

1971    Cade's County            Unknown            Episode: "The Alien Land"

1975    Insight            The Man            Episode: "The Man from Inner Space"

1972    The Living End            Doug Newman            CBS television pilot

1972    The Rookies            Toby Jones            Episode: "Covenant with Death"

1972    Love, American Style            Freddy            Segment: "Love and the Christmas Punch..."

1968–1972            The Mod Squad            'Smitty' (1968)

Lloyd (1969)

Charley Jameson (1972)            Episode: "When Smitty Comes Marching Home" (1968)

Episode: "The Uptight Town" (1969)

Episode: "Can You Hear Me Out There?" (1972)

1973    Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law            Unknown            Episode: "An Often and Familiar Ghost"

1974    It's Good to Be Alive    Sam Brockington            CBS television film

1974            Sidekicks         Jason O'Rourke            TV remake of Gossett's 1971 Skin Game

CBS television film

1974    The White Dawn            Portagee          ABC television film

1974            McCloud        Dewey Justin            Episode: "Shivaree on Delancy Street"

1974    The New Land            Simon York            Episode: "The Word is: Dignity" (never aired)

1974–1975            Petrocelli          District Attorney Kurt Olson            Episode: "A Very Lonely Lady" and "A Fallen Idol"

1974–1975            Good Times   Donald Knight / Uncle Wilbert            Episode: "Thelma's Young Man"

Episode: "Michael's Big Fall"

1975    Lucas Tanner  Bobby Koball            Episode: "Bonus Baby"

1975    Black Bart      Bart 'Black Bart'            CBS television film

1975            Delancey Street: The Crisis Within            Otis James   NBC television film

1975    Caribe            David Wallace            Episode: "The Assassin"

1975    Harry O         Cleon Jackson            Episode: "Shades"

1975    The Jeffersons            Wendell Brown            Episode: "George's Best Friend"

1975    The Six Million Dollar Man            O'Flaherty            Episode: "Clark Templeton O'Flaherty"

1975–1976            Police Story    Freddie / Virgil Barnes            Episode: "The Cut Man Caper"

Episode: "50 Cents-First Half Hour, $1.75 All Day"

1976    Little House on the Prairie  Henry Hill            Episode: "The Long Road Home"

1976    The Rebels            Unknown       

1976–1977            The Rockford Files            Marcus 'Gabby' Hayes            Episode: Foul on the First Play and Just Another Polish Wedding

1977    Little Ladies of the Night    Russ Garfield            ABC television film

1977    Roots            Fiddler            ABC miniseries

1977    Visions            Rex            Episode: "Freeman"

1978    The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots   Himself            Television special

1978    To Kill a Cop   Everett Walker            Uncredited role; NBC television film

1978    The Critical List            Lem Harper NBC television film

1979            Backstairs at the White House            Levi Mercer NBC miniseries

1979            Lawman Without a Gun      Tom Hayward            NBC television film

1979    The Lazarus Syndrome            Dr. MacArthur St. Clair     ABC television film

1980            Palmerstown, USA            Fredrick Douglas Jackson            Episode: Future City

1981    Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige    Leroy 'Satchel' Paige            ABC television film

1982            American Playhouse            Unknown            Episode: "Zora Is My Name!"

1982    Benny's Place    Benny Moore  ABC television film

1982            Saturday Night Live            Host            Episode: "Louis Gossett Jr/George Thorogood & the Destroyers"

1982–1983            The Powers of Matthew Star            Walter 'Walt' Shepherd / D'Hai   22 episodes

1983    Sadat            Anwar al-Sadat            Television film

1984    The Guardian            John Mack            Television film

1987    A Gathering of Old Men            Mathu            CBS television film

1987    The Father Clements Story            Father Clements            NBC television film

1988    Sam Found Out: A Triple Play            Unknown        ABC television film

1988            Goodbye, Miss 4th of July      John 'Big John' Creed   Disney Channel television film

1988    Roots: The Gift            Fiddler            ABC television film

1988    Straight Up       Cosmo            2 episodes

1989    Gideon Oliver   Gideon Oliver   5 episodes

1990    El Diablo  Van Leek    HBO television film

1990    Sudie and Simpson            Simpson            Television film

1991–1992            Captain Planet and the Planeteers            Commander Clash            Voice, 3 episodes

1991    The Josephine Baker Story            Sidney Williams            HBO television film

1991            Carolina Skeletons            James Bragg   NBC television film

1992    Keeper of the City            Detective James Dela            Television film

1993    Story of a People            Host            Miniseries

1993            Gridiron Gang Host            Documentary film

1993    Father & Son: Dangerous Relations            Unknown        NBC television film

1993    Return to Lonesome Dove    Isom Pickett            Miniseries

1994    Picket Fences Rick Jennings            Episode: "Terms of Estrangement"

1994    Ray Alexander: A Taste for Justice  Ray Alexander            NBC television film

1995    A Father for Charlie Walter Osgood            CBS television film

1995            Zooman          Rueben Tate            Television movie

1995    Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder Ray Alexander            Television movie

1996    Captive Heart: The James Mink Story    James Mink            Television movie

1996    Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story    Bob Kersee            Television film

1996    Inside            Questioner            Television film

1997            Touched by an Angel            Anderson Walker            Episode: "Amazing Grace"

1997    To Dance with Olivia   Daniel Stewart            CBS television film

1997    In His Father's Shoes            Frank Crosby / Richard            Showtime television film

1997    Early Edition  Jim Matthews            Episode: "The Medal"

1997    Ellen            Sergeant Timko            Episode: "G.I. Ellen"

1998            Inspectors            Inspector Frank Hughes            Showtime television film

1999    Love Songs   Reuben            Segment: "A Love Song for Dad"

1999    Strange Justice  Vernon Jordan            Showtime television film

2000    Dr. Lucille  David Mulera            Television film

2000    The Inspectors 2: A Shred of Evidence            Inspector Frank Hughes            Showtime television film

2000    The Color of Love: Jacey's Story            Lou Hastings            CBS television film

2001    For Love of Olivia            Daniel Stewart            CBS television film

2002            Opening Ceremony Salt Lake Paralympic Winter Games            Narrator            Television special

2002    What About Your Friends: Weekend Getaway            Dr. Barnes  UPN television film

2002            Resurrection Blvd.            Ezekiel 'Zeke' Grant            Episode: "En Un Momento" and "Esperando Lagrimas"

2003    The Dead Zone            Pastor David Lewis            Episode: "Zion"

2003    Jasper, Texas   R.C. Horn            Television movie

2003            Momentum            Raymond Addison            SCI FI television film

2004    Half & Half      Ray Willis    2 episodes

2005    Solar Attack            President Ryan Gordon            Direct-to-DVD release

2005            Lackawanna Blues            Ol'lem Taylor  HBO television film

2005–2006            Stargate SG-1 Gerak            5 episodes

2006    Family Guy            Sergeant Angryman            Voice, episode: "Saving Private Brian"

2007    The Batman Lucius Fox      Voice, 3 episodes

2009    ER            Leo Malcolm            Episode: "The Family Man"

2012    Psych            Lloyd            Episode: "Heeeeere's Lassie"

2013            Boardwalk Empire            Oscar Boneau            Episode: "Havre de Grace"

2014–2015            Extant            Quinn            Recurring; 4 episodes

2014    Madam Secretary            Father Laurent Vasseur            Episode: "The Call"

2015    The Book of Negroes            Daddy Moses  2 episodes

2015    The Spoils Before Dying   Duke Webster            Episode: "The Trip Trap"

2017    The Good Fight            Carl Reddick            Episode: "Reddick v Boseman"

2018    Hap and Leonard            Bacon            6 episodes

2018    Hawaii Five-0  Percy Grover Sr.            Episode: "Lele pū nā manu like" (Hawaiian for: "Birds of a Feather...")

2019            Watchmen      Will Reeves / Hooded Justice            7 episodes

Theatre

Year     Title            Role            Venue            Ref.

1953    Take a Giant Step            Spencer Scott  Lyceum Theatre, Broadway debut   

1955    The Desk Set            Kenny            Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway       

1959    A Raisin in the Sun      George Murchinson            Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway       

1963            Tambourines to Glory            Big-Eyed Buddy Lomax  Little Theatre, Broadway       

1964    Golden Boy      Frank            Majestic Theatre, Broadway       

1965    The Zulu and the Zayda   Paulus            Cort Theatre, Broadway       

1966    My Sweet Charlie            Charles Roberts            Longacre Theatre, Broadway       

1968    Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights Willie Nurse   John Golden Theatre, Broadway       

1971            Murderous Angels            Patricia Lumumba            Playhouse Theatre       

1996            Chicago          Billy Flynn            Ambassador Theatre  

2006            Dvorak's New World: Chamber Music Plus            Narrator           Venue