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Louis Gossett Jr., who won an Oscar for his role in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” has died. He was 87.
His cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that Gossett Jr. died Thursday night in Santa Monica, CA. His cause of death was not revealed.
Gossett Jr. made history as the first Black man to win a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Emil Foley in the 1982 drama “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
He also earned an Emmy for his role as Fiddler in the 1978 “Roots” TV series.
Gossett Jr. starred in many other films and television shows over his decades-long career.
Among his memorable movies were “Enemy Mine” (1985) and “Iron Eagle” (1986), and TV shows like “Sadat” (1983) and “Touched By an Angel” (1997).
In more recent years he appeared in shows like “Boardwalk Empire” (2013) and “The Watchmen” (2019), as well as the 2023 film “The Color Purple.”
In 2015, Gossett Jr. told Variety his favorite role was playing Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, who made peace with Israel.
He explained, “It was a challenge to play someone with history like that. His spirit was very much like Mandela’s. He transitioned from a hawk to a dove. He’d lost his brother and people he loved. He said he’d be willing to step into Israel in the name of peace. Mandela was willing to come out of prison with a smile on his face.”