MUMBAI: Louis Gossett Jr, the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, has passed away. He was 87 years old, reported The Associated Press.

Gossett won the Oscar for his performance in “An Officer and a Gentleman". He has also bagged an Emmy for his role in the seminal TV mini-series “Roots".

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Gossett's nephew told AP that the actor died on Thursday night in California's Santa Monica. The cause of his death has not been revealed.

Louis Gossett Jr, according to AP, always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award.

Just like fairytale, Gossett got his first acting credit at high school with “You Can’t Take It with You" while he was sidelined from the basketball team because of an injury.

In his 2010 memoir “An Actor and a Gentleman", Gossett wrote that he was hooked, and so was the audience.

It was his English teacher who nudged him to go to Manhattan to try out for “Take a Giant Step". This is how he landed his Broadway debut in 1953 at age 16.

“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."

On a basketball and drama scholarship, Gossett attended the New York University. He was soon acting and singing on TV shows.

In 1961, Gossett went to Hollywood for the first time to make a version of Broadway production “A Raisin in the Sun."

Gossett became the third Black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category in 1983. He won for his performance as the intimidating Marine drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman" opposite Richard Gere and Debra Winger. He also won a Golden Globe for the same role.

“More than anything, it was a huge affirmation of my position as a Black actor," he wrote in his memoir.

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“The Oscar gave me the ability of being able to choose good parts in movies like ‘Enemy Mine,’ ‘Sadat’ and ‘Iron Eagle,’" Gossett said in Dave Karger's 2024 book “50 Oscar Nights."

He said his statue was in storage.

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Credits - Mint