Louis Gosset Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the influential TV miniseries “Roots,” has died at 87 years old. His first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died in Santa Monica, California. A statement from the family didn’t reveal a cause of death. Gossett’s cousin remembered a man who walked with Nelson Mandela, who was also a great joketeller and a relative who faced and fought racism with humor and dignity.
His cousin said, “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.” Louis Gossett Jr. 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.” He broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which depicted atrocities of slavery on television. The sprawling cast included John Amos, LeVar Burton, and Ben Vereen.
Gossett Jr. 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 Debra Winger and Richard Gere. He also won a Golden Globe for the same role. He wrote in his 2010 memoir, “More than anything, it was a huge affirmation of my position as a Black actor.” 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. He wrote in his memoir, “I was hooked, and so was my audience.”
His English teacher urged him to go to 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 soon started 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. 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.”
He 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.