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Actor Louis Gossett Jr. the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best supporting actor, has died at the age of 87.
Gossett's family confirmed that he died on Friday (April 29), though no cause of death was revealed, in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. Neal L. Gossett, the actor's first cousin, told the AP that he died in Santa Monica.
“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,” Neal L. Gossett said of his late cousin.
Gossett is best known for his iconic roles as Fiddler in the 1977 miniseries 'Roots,' which won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards, as well as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film 'An Officer and a Gentlemen,' which won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the first Black actor to win the award and the second to win an Oscar, following the late Sidney Portier, with whom he worked alongside in the Broadway and 1961 film version of 'A Raisin in the Sun.'