American actor Louis Gossett Jr., the first black actor to win the Oscar for best supporting actor, has died at the age of 87, American media reported on Friday.
He died Thursday evening in Los Angeles of unspecified causes, according to his family, cited by these media, including CBS. When contacted, its representatives did not respond immediately.
Louis Gossett Jr. won an Oscar in 1983 for his portrayal of a drill sergeant in the film An Officer and a Gentleman (Officer and gentleman). This film also won him a Golden Globe.
Prolific, the actor starred in more than 60 films, and became the third black actor – after Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier – to win an Oscar.
Louis Gossett has also played in multiple television series including the cult series Roots (Roots), which attracted more than 100 million viewers during its “finale” in January 1977.
The New York native, who announced in 2010 that he was suffering from prostate cancer, cultivated a tough-guy image in action films, including Iron Eagle (Iron Eagle), in 1986.
In his memoirs, Actor and Gentlemanhe recounts his difficult beginnings as a black actor, including his first trip to Los Angeles in the 1960s, during which he was stopped by police four times during a single car ride.
Divorced from his third wife in 1992, Louis Gossett lived in Malibu, California. He is the father of two sons.
“From a hawk to a dove”
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 27, 1936, he made his debut on stage in Take a Giant Stepwhich was selected as one of the ten best Broadway shows of 1953 by the New York Times.
He also starred in the films The Deep (The deep sea), Blue Chips, Daddy’s Little Girls, The Golden Temple (Firewalker) And Jaws 3 (Jaws 3).
Louis Gossett has also been nominated six times for an Emmy, the most prestigious award in television, notably for his interpretation of Anwar Sadat in the series Sadat, in 1983.
In 2015, he told Variety magazine that his role in the TV movie, that of the Egyptian leader who made peace with Israel, was his favorite.
“It was a challenge to play someone with such a history. His spirit was very close to that of Mandela. He went from a hawk to a dove,” he said.