When an actor goes above and beyond their abilities on the silver screen, they can impact thousands, if not millions of people. That is the case with Louis Gossett Junior, an actor that has passed away.

Louis Gossett Junior is perhaps best known for his role in the TV miniseries, roots. He also played in the movie, An Officer and a Gentleman. In addition, he has the distinction of being the first black man to win the Best Supporting Actor Category Oscar at the Academy Awards.

Over his lifetime, he acted in some 200 different projects in Hollywood and he was even working on 12 projects in the future. Unfortunately, the world will never get to enjoy those future projects.

According to NPR, Louis Gossett Junior has died at the age of 87. It happened on March 28, 2024 at his home in Santa Monica, California. They have not released the official cause of death.

Prior to being in the movies, Gossett was a star on Broadway. He also acted with acting giants, such as Cindy Portier and Marilyn Monroe.

After going to Hollywood, he said that he was treated like a king but there was some racism he experienced as well. On his way to the hotel when he first arrived the police stopped him and it took him four and a half hours to drive to the 20-minute trip. They had even handcuffed him to a tree for three hours for being out walking in Beverly Hills after 9 PM.

Even though he went through some difficult times, he still enjoyed a very nice career. He feels that he could have done better if he were a white actor, but the world will never know.

He also had some struggles with drug and alcohol abuse and entered rehab 20 years ago. He went through a 12 step program to remove more than the drugs and alcohol, he removed the resentment that was driving his addiction.

Over his life, he was married three times. You can learn more about him and his career in the following video.