Civil rights activists and Hollywood actors pay tribute to Black Panther star Boseman
CHADWICK BOSEMAN, the actor who played the superhero “Black Panther” and became an icon for black Americans, has died from colon cancer aged 43.
Hollywood stars and civil rights activists paid tribute to Boseman who kept his diagnosis secret from fans and continued to work.
His family said he had filmed scenes “during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy”.
Boseman first appeared on screen as
T’Challa, king of the fictional, futuristic African kingdom of Wakanda, in
Captain America: Civil War in 2016, the same year he was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer. Two years later, as T’Challa and his alter ego Black Panther, he led the first major Hollywood superhero movie featuring a predominantly black cast.
Boseman fought for his character to have an African accent, rather than an American or British one. The film and its “Wakanda forever!” salute became a worldwide phenomenon, earning more than £970million at the box office and winning three Oscars.
While he was fighting his own health battle, Boseman brought toys to youngsters at a US hospital treating childhood cancers. In 2018, he broke down in an interview when describing his discussions with two boys who had terminal cancer and had wanted to see the film before they died.
Before Boseman had played real-life black icons James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, in the biopic and baseball star Jackie Robinson in 42.
He grew up in South Carolina and graduated from Howard University in Washington DC.
Denzel Washington funded a scholarship which allowed him to study theatre at Oxford University.
His said: “A fighter, wick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. It was the honour of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”
Boseman’s s final message on social media showed him with Kamala Harris, celebrating her selection as the first black woman on a major political party’s presidential ticket. Ms Harris said: “Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned and humble.
“He left too early but his life made a difference.” Mark Ruffalo, who starred alongside a Boseman as Hulk, said: “It was the highest honour getting to work with you and getting to know you. What a generous and sincere human being.” Boseman will make a posthumous app appearance in the forthcom coming film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
‘Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned and humble. He left too early but his life made a difference’