Louis Gossett Jr., First Black Man To Win An Oscar For Supporting Actor, Has Died At 87

Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. has reportedly passed away at the age of 87. Gossett was known as the first Black man to win an Oscar for best-supporting actor.

His family confirmed his passing, revealing that he died on Friday morning. Gossett was a man of many talents, starting his career in acting on Broadway while he was a high school student.

According to the Associated Press, Gossett's family confirmed the news of his death, stating that he passed away Friday morning. However, his cause of death has yet to be confirmed.

The family said in a statement, "It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning. We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family's privacy during this difficult time."

His first cousin Neal L. Gossett, who spoke with AP, revealed that he died in Santa Monica. Neal fondly remembers his cousin as a man who walked with Nelson Mandela. He also notes that Gossett was great with jokes and a relative who was faced with racism and fought it 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," Gossett's cousin told the news outlet.

Gosset once talked about how he had a "promising high school career." During a conversation with Bob Costas in 1991, he opened up about his start in Broadway at an early age and how it set him on the path of show business.

"'They're looking for a young, Black kid to play a lead in a Broadway show called Take a Giant Step. They can't find anybody in the business, so they're going to the high schools. 'Tell your mother to take you down there,'" Gossett recalled being told. "So, that's how I got in show business."

Gossett went on to study at New York University and performed in Broadway productions of "The Desk Set" in 1955 and 1956. His feature début was "Raisin in the Sun" (1961), which the Library of Congress has added to the United States National Film Registry, per People Magazine.

Gossett's career path almost took him down the road of sports. According to the actor, he nearly played for the New York Nicks as he was training as a rookie before he got the call to join the cast of "A Raisin In The Sun."

"I was at rookie training for the [New York] Knicks when I got a call from [playwright] Lorraine Hansberry to be a part of A Raisin in the Sun," Gossett told People Magazine in reference to the Broadway production of the iconic play, which also starred late Hollywood actor, Sidney Poitier.

He revealed that when he learned of the part, he knew he needed to drop his aspirations to be a basketballer and focus on acting.

"They said the part comes with a $700 per diem, more money than most professional athletes had in the bank at the time. I put the basketball down, and the rest is history," Gossett stated.

The talented actor was also a skilled guitarist, and according to him, his music career was met with a similar fate as that of his sports career. He needed to set them both aside to focus on his acting.

He recalled that In between theater gigs, he "passed the brass playing in the coffee shops down in the Village."

"Once I got my first acting job, I quit the [music] business," Gossett told the news outlet.

The actor relocated to Los Angeles in the 1960s, where he launched his career in movies and television.

In 1983, he became the first Black winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar after he stunned audiences with his portrayal of a severe Marine drill instructor in "An Officer and a Gentleman," starring alongside Richard Gere.

Speaking on the Academy Award-winning film, Gossett noted that he was not the first choice for the role.

"They had hired another actor who was White, but when director Taylor Hackford found out that 75% of the Marine DIs were Black, they paid him off and hired me," Gosset said, per People. "I went down to San Diego Marine Corps to learn for six weeks. When I showed up on set, I was a marine."

Before his Oscar, the iconic actor had previously won an Emmy for his work in the groundbreaking 1977 TV miniseries "Roots."