Louis Gossett Jr, the star of Iron Eagle, has sadly passed away at the age of 87. His family confirmed the heartbreaking news this week as fans have been paying tribute to the multi-award-winning
Actor and trailblazer. His nephew revealed that Louis passed away on Thursday in , but the cause of death is not yet known. Louis was remembered for his incredible on-screen talent and was the first-ever Black man to win an Oscar for best supporting actor. The actor, who won his for An Officer and a Gentleman, started acting in his Brooklyn high school's production of You Can't Take It with You when he was injured and couldn't play basketball. "I was hooked - and so was my audience," he wrote in his 2010 memoir An Actor and a Gentleman. His English teacher encouraged him to try out for Take a Giant Step in Manhattan, where he got the part and made his Broadway debut in 1953 when he was just 16 years old. "I knew too little to be nervous," Gossett wrote. "In retrospect, I should have been scared to death as I walked onto that stage, but I wasn't." Louis went to
New York University on a
basketball and drama scholarship. He soon started acting and singing on TV shows hosted by David Susskind, Ed Sullivan, Red Buttons and Merv Griffin. He first went to in 1961 to make the film version of A Raisin in the Sun. In 1968, he later returned to
Hollywood for a role in Companions in Nightmare, NBC's first made-for-TV movie starring Melvyn Douglas, Anne Baxter and Patrick O'Neal. Gossett first made a name for himself on TV as Fiddler in Roots, a show that brought the horrors of slavery to our screens. The cast included big names like Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos. He later won an Emmy for his memoralbe role in the TV series. In 1983, he became the third Black actor to be nominated for an Oscar in the supporting actor category. He won the award for his role as a tough Marine drill instructor in An Officer and a Gentleman, where he starred alongside Richard Gere and Debra Winger. This role also earned him a Golden Globe. "More than anything, it was a huge affirmation of my position as a Black actor," he shared in his memoir. "The Oscar gave me the ability of being able to choose good parts in movies like Enemy Mine, Sadat and Iron Eagle," Gossett revealed in Dave Karger's 2024 book 50 Oscar Nights. .