Louis Gossett Jr., Oscar winner for “An Officer and a Gentleman,” has died at the age of 87.

Louis Gossett Jr., Oscar winner for “An Officer and a Gentleman,” has died at the age of 87.

American actor Lewis Gossett Jr. died at the age of 87. Best known for playing Sergeant Emil Foley opposite Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman—a role that made him the first African-American actor to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor—he also starred in Iron Eagle, The Enemy, and More recently in the Watchmen series or the musical remake of The Color Purple.

Louis Gossett Jr., born to a nurse mother and a methane father, attended the Abraham Lincoln Institute in Brooklyn. He made his theater debut when he was 17 years old, through high school, in George S. In the adaptation of the famous play “You Can’t Take It With You” by Kaufman and Moss Hart. Once he graduated, he attended New York University and played basketball at a high level with his athletic physique and height (1.95 m). However, he decided to focus on the theater.

Talented and hardworking, the Brooklyn native has landed roles in several prestigious Broadway productions, such as “Take a Giant Step,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The Blacks,” or “Zulu and Zaida.”

Louis Gossett Jr. in “An Officer and a Gentleman”

First film role

Along with his stage career, Louis Gossett Jr. found his first role in A Raisin in the Sun by Daniel Petrie (adapted from Lorraine Hansberry’s play of the same name), played by the legendary Sidney Poitier. He went on to direct such notable directors as Hal Ashby (The Landlord, 1970), George Cukor (Traveling with Auntie, 1972), Peter Yates (The Great Funds, 1977) and Robert Aldrich (Band of Cops). 1977).

Louis Gossett Jr. is also very active in the small area and has been since its inception in the late 1950s. This is evidenced by his more or less important roles in series such as The Young Rebels, Cowboy in Africa, Bonanza, La Nouvelle Team, Sheriff in New York, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Man Who Was Worth 3 Billion, Police Story, Two Hundred Dollars Plus Expenses , Back Stairs in the White House, Lazarus Syndrome, Matthew Starr or even Gideon Oliver, just name them…

In the miniseries Roots (1977) for the role of the slave violinist Fiddler, an uncompromising portrait of a family of three generations of African-American slaves, the Brooklynite received an Emmy Award.

Louis Gossett Jr. in The Color Purple

Oscar for the role in the film An Officer and a Gentleman

In the 1980s and 1990s, Louis Gossett Jr. dabbled in a variety of film genres, from horror (Jaws 3) to action (Four). Iron Eaglewhere he plays US Air Force pilot Charles “Chappie” Sinclair), via science fiction (enemy) and comedy (An Englishman in the Tropics). In 1983, his character Sergeant Emil Foley was introduced An officer and a gentlemanMaking Richard Gere’s life difficult allowed him to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

In the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, Louis Gossett Jr. multiplied his performances in films that were not routinely released in theaters, such as Daddy’s Little Girls, The Perfect Game, and The Dependables. On the small screen, he appears in numerous TV movies, as well as the TV series Stargate SG-1, The Griffins, ER, Boardwalk Empire, Hap and Leonard, and most notably. watchmenwhere he plays Will Reeves, an ex-cop and the first masked vigilante who operates under the name Hooded Justice.

Louis Gossett Jr. is also known for his loyalty. In 2006, he founded The Eracism Foundation, a non-profit association dedicated to the fight against racism.

In January 2024, he played his last film role in the musical remake of The Color Purple, directed by Blitz Bazawule.

Source: Allocine

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