Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman dies aged 43 after battle with cancer

LOS ANGELES: First Chadwick Boseman slipped on the cleats of Jackie Robinson, then the Godfather of Soul’s dancing shoes, portraying both Black American icons with a searing intensity that commanded respect. When the former playwright suited up as Black Panther, he brought cool intellectual gravitas to the Marvel superhero whose “Wakanda forever!” salute reverberated worldwide.

As his Hollywood career boomed, though, Boseman was privately undergoing “countless surgeries and chemotherapy” to battle colon cancer, his family said, announcing his death at age 43 on Friday.

He’d been diagnosed at stage 3 in 2016, but never spoke publicly about it.

Expressions of shock poured in from fellow actors, athletes, musicians, Hollywood titans and politicians.

Born and raised in South Carolina, where he played Little League baseball and AAU basketball, Boseman graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC. He wrote plays, acted and directed in theatre and had small roles in television before landing his breakthrough role.

His striking portrayal of the baseball star Robinson opposite Harrison Ford in 2013’s 42 drew attention in Hollywood and made him a star. A year later, he wowed audiences as Brown in the biopic Get On Up.

Boseman died on a day that Major League Baseball was celebrating Jackie Robinson day. “His transcendent performance in ‘42’ will stand the test of time and serve as a powerful vehicle to tell Jackie’s story to audiences for generations to come,” the league wrote in a tweet.

HE HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED AT STAGE 3 IN 2016, BUT NEVER SPOKE ABOUT HIS AILMENT PUBLICLY