AN OSCAR WINNER & A GENTLEMAN
Drill sergeant actor Louis dies aged 87
LOUIS Gossett Jr gave an unforgettable performance as the intimidating drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman.
The star, who has died aged 87, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1982 movie – the first Black man to scoop the award.
He later said he was so shocked to be announced the winner that before he got up his agent had to tell him: “They said your name.”
Louis’ family, who announced the US star died in Santa Monica, California, did not reveal his cause of death.
He was born in Brooklyn, New
York, in 1936. At high school in the city, he took an acting class because an injury had sidelined him from the basketball team.
His stage debut came aged 17 in 1953 in a school production. He later said: “I was hooked.”
That same year he landed a role in a Broadway play.
He was pals with James Dean and studied acting with Marilyn Monroe and Steve Mcqueen.
In 1959, Louis won acclaim for his role in the Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun alongside Sidney Poitier, also appearing in the 1961 film adaptation.
Louis, who was also a singer, had numerous roles on stage and screen in the 1960s and 1970s including TV shows such as Bonanza and The Rockford Files.
His major breakthrough was his Emmy Award-winning performance in TV mini-series Roots in 1977 alongside Levar Burton.
That same year Louis was in film thriller The Deep before playing Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley opposite Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman.
Louis, who said in 2010 he had prostate cancer, continued to be a prolific actor in his final years.
He married three times and had two sons, including one he adopted after seeing him in a TV segment on kids in dire situations.