Chadwick Boseman, celebrated actor, dies
Chadwick Boseman, an actor who portrayed such monumental African American figures as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, then became a superstar with the billion-dollar 2018 superhero blockbuster “Black Panther,” died Aug. 28 at his home near Los Angeles. He was 43.
The cause was colon cancer, according to a statement on his official Twitter account. He had battled the disease for four years, as he rose to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Boseman, who was a graduate of Howard University, had a modest career as an actor and playwright before he was cast as Robinson, who in 1947 became the first Black player in major league baseball in the 20th century.
The 2013 film, titled “42” after Robinson’s uniform number, propelled Boseman to stardom. He then had the lead roles in “Get On Up,” a 2014 biopic about soul star James Brown, and “Marshall,” a 2017 film about a pivotal moment in the life of the civil rights lawyer who became the first Black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2016, Boseman debuted his role as Black Panther in “Captain America: Civil War,” featuring numerous superheroes from what is known as the Marvel Comics Universe. Two years later, he starred in a lavish production of “Black Panther,” directed by Ryan Coogler, that became one of Hollywood’s biggest box-office hits in history.
With a largely Black cast, the film portrayed Boseman in a dual role as T’Challa, the king of the fictional African country of Wakanda, who sometimes ventures into the outside (and evil) world as his crime-fighting alter ego, Black Panther.
Boseman was praised for the depth he brought to his performance. He adopted a distinctive accent for his role as the king of Wakanda, an unconquered, technically advanced country, with a distinctive civilization. His “Wakanda forever” salute, with his arms crossed over his chest, became a cultural touchstone.
When one of his country’s citizens, Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, goes rogue, it is up to Boseman — in his identity as Black Panther — to bring justice and order to the world.
“You might say that this African nation is fantasy,” Boseman told Time magazine in 2018. “But to have the opportunity to pull from real ideas, real places and real African concepts, and put it inside of this idea of Wakanda — that’s a great opportunity to develop a sense of what that identity is, especially when you’re disconnected from it.”