Louis Gossett Jr. is dead. The American actor died at the age of 87 in Santa Monica, California.
Gossett Jr. was the first black actor to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He received the coveted film trophy in 1983 for his role in “An Officer and a Gentleman”. In 1977, he also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series for his role as “Fiddler” in the ABC miniseries “Roots.”
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Beginnings in the theater
Before switching to film, the actor, born on May 27, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, appeared on many theater stages. In 1953 he moved to Broadway, where he played a role in the play “Take a Giant Step”. He took on his first role in a film in 1961 in “A Raisin In The Sun” – the film adaptation of a play by Lorraine Hansberry, in whose original production he had already starred.
Gossett Jr. has appeared in hundreds of productions. He played Drac Jeriba “Jerry” Shigan in “Enemy Mine” (1985) and took on the leading role of officer Charles “Chappy” Sinclair in the Steel Eagle film series (1986-1994). He was also seen in TV series such as Stargate – Command SG-1, Bonanza, Dead Zone and many others. Gamers know his voice from Half-Life 2 and the sequels in the series – where Gossett Jr. played the part of Vortigaunt.
The cause of death is not yet known.