ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Tributes are pouring in for a Hollywood legend and Georgia resident.
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, died in Santa Monica, California Friday. He was 87. His cause of death was not revealed.
Gossett was born in Brooklyn, New York, but spent summers as a boy visiting his great-grandmother in Georgia. The Oscar winner lived in Fayetteville in the final two years of his life.
Gossett’s long Hollywood career began with acting classes with Marilyn Monroe and included roles in a number of acclaimed movies and TV productions, including the ground breaking miniseries Roots – which won him an Emmy – and An Officer and a Gentleman. Gossett became the first Black man to win the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role in the film.
Tributes from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other city politicians poured in after the announcement of Gossett’s death.
Dickens said in a statement,
Atlanta City Councilmembers Byron Amos and Michael Julian Bond also issued statements.
Amos said,
Bond said,
Gossett worked to the very end, with multiple posthumous films set for release. One of Gossett’s final film roles was shot in Georgia; Gossett played Albert “Mister” Johnson in the recent musical adaptation of The Color Purple, and sat down with our own Don Shipman just before the film’s premiere.
The city honored Gossett in 2018 with a proclamation celebrating his contributions to the film industry and the Atlanta-based World Chamber of Commerce honored him for his trailblazing career last year.
