Louis Gossett Jr. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Louis Gossett Jr.
At The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 2021
Born	Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (1936-05-27) May 27, 1936 (age 86) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1953–present
Spouse(s)	Hattie Glascoe ​ ​ (m. 1967; annul. 1968)​ Christina Mangosing ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1975)​ Cyndi James-Reese ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1992)​
Children	2
Relatives	Robert Gossett (first cousin)

Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. He was a folk singer in the 1960s. He is best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, winning him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also won an Emmy Award for his role as Fiddler in the 1977 ABC television miniseries Roots.

Gossett has also starred in numerous other film productions including A Raisin in the Sun, The Landlord, Skin Game, Travels with My Aunt, The Laughing Policeman, The White Dawn, The Deep, Jaws 3-D, Wolfgang Petersen's Enemy Mine, The Principal, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher, in an acting career that spans over five decades.

Early life and education

Gossett was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, to Hellen Rebecca (née Wray), a nurse, and Louis Gossett Sr., a porter. He is an alumnus of Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Abraham Lincoln High School. His stage debut came at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can't Take It with You when a sports injury resulted in the decision to take an acting class. Polio had already delayed his graduation.

After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1954, he attended New York University, declining an athletic scholarship. Standing 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, he was offered the opportunity to play varsity basketball during his college years at NYU; he declined the basketball offer to concentrate on theater. His high school teacher had encouraged him to audition for a Broadway part, resulting in his selection for a starring role on Broadway in 1953 from among 200 other actors well before he entered NYU.

Career

Gossett replaced Bill Gunn as Spencer Scott in Broadway's Take a Giant Step, which was selected by The New York Times drama critics as one of the 10 best shows of the year. He was 17, and still a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, with no formal drama training.

Gossett's Broadway theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun (1959); he had his cinematic debut with the play's film adaptation in 1961.

Also in 1961, Gossett appeared in the original cast of Jean Genet's The Blacks, the longest running off-Broadway play of the decade, running for 1,408 performances. The original cast also featured James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Cicely Tyson, Godfrey Cambridge, Maya Angelou and Charles Gordone.

In 1965, Gossett appeared in the musical play The Zulu and the Zayda on Broadway as Paulus with music and lyrics by Harold Rome.

Gossett wrote the antiwar folk song "Handsome Johnny" with Richie Havens; Havens recorded the song in 1966.

His Emmy Award-winning role of Fiddler in the 1977 television miniseries Roots first brought Gossett to the audience's attention.

In 1983, he was cast in the title role in Sadat, a miniseries which chronicled the life and assassination of Anwar Sadat. While filming An Officer and a Gentleman, Gossett was also starring in the 1982–1983 science fiction series, The Powers of Matthew Star. His role as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was the first black male to win an Oscar in a supporting role, the second black male to win for acting, and the third black actor to win overall.

He has worked with Dennis Quaid twice in both Jaws 3-D and Enemy Mine.

In 1986, Gossett starred in another role as a military man (Colonel Chappy Sinclair) in the film Iron Eagle. It was followed by three sequels.

Gossett in 1987

In 1989, Gossett co-starred in the Marvel Comics adaptation The Punisher, with Dolph Lundgren in the title role. The film was directed by Mark Goldblatt, with a screenplay by Boaz Yakin. The Punisher was filmed in Sydney, Australia and also featured Jeroen Krabbé, Kim Miyori, and Barry Otto.

In 1991, Gossett starred in Manny Coto's action film Cover Up opposite Dolph Lundgren.

Gossett is the voice of the Vortigaunts in the video game Half-Life 2 and is the Free Jaffa Leader Gerak in Season 9 of the sci-fi television series Stargate SG-1. He provides the voice of Lucius Fox in The Batman animated series. He recorded several commercials for a Nashville-based diabetic company, AmMed Direct, LLC. In 1997, Gossett presented When Animals Attack! 4, a one-hour special on Fox.

He played the role of fictional U.S. President Gerald Fitzhugh in the 2005 film Left Behind: World at War. In 2008, he filmed the "Keep It Real" series of commercials for the Namibian lager Windhoek.

In 2009, Gossett also lent his voice talents in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production known as The Word of Promise. In this dramatized audio, Gossett played the character of John the Apostle. The project also featured a large ensemble of well known Hollywood actors including Jim Caviezel, John Rhys-Davies, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, Jason Alexander, Christopher McDonald, Marisa Tomei and John Schneider.

In 2013, Gossett starred in the controversial drama Boiling Pot, which is based on true events of racism that occurred on college campuses across the US during the 2008 Presidential election. The film, written and directed by the Ashmawey brothers under AshmaweyFilms, also stars Danielle Fishel, Keith David, M. Emmet Walsh, and John Heard. Gossett plays a detective attempting to decipher a murder case that was fueled by racism, all while putting aside his own prejudices. Boiling Pot was released in 2014. Gossett returned to television in the CBS All Access series, The Good Fight, guest starring as founding partner Carl Reddick of Diane Lockhart's new firm. He narrated an audiobook based on Twelve Years a Slave.

In 2021, Gossett appears in the film Not To Forget (2021), which aims to raise awareness and funds for the fight against Alzheimer’s. The movie, directed by Valerio Zanoli, stars Karen Grassle and 5 Academy Award winners: Louis Gossett Jr., Cloris Leachman, Tatum O’Neal, George Chakiris, and Olympia Dukakis.

Music career

During the early 1960s, Gossett was considered to be a talented folk musician. He was also well known. His singing career was helped along with appearing at the Folk City venue in New York.

Signed to Powertree Records, Gossett's single, "Hooka' Dooka'", "Green Green" bw "Goodmornin' Captain" was released in early 1964. Later in May, "Red Rosy Bush" bw "See See Rider" was released.

A December, 1965 review of The Zulu, original cast recording that was released on Columbia Records noted Menasha Skulnik and Gossett's vocal performance of "It's Good to Be Alive. The song he co-composed with Richie Havens, "Handsome Johnny" appears on Havens' Mixed Bag album that was released in 1967. Havens performed it on the Johnny Carson Show which resulted in a standing ovation that lasted through two commercial breaks.

By September, 1967, his single "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" bw "Just a Girl" was released on Warner Brothers 7078. It was a Cash Box Newcomer Pick and received a good review with the reviewer calling it "Easy-paced blues working and a mighty fine smooth vocal join forces in putting across a tempting r&b reading of the folk standard."

In 1970, his album From Me to You was released on B.T. Puppy Records BTPS-1013. It contained some of his own compositions.

Personal life

Gossett at the celebration of the anniversary of the March on Washington

Gossett has been married three times and fathered one son and adopted one son. His first marriage was to Hattie Glascoe; it was annulled. His second, to Christina Mangosing, took place on August 21, 1973. Their son Satie was born in 1974. Gossett and Mangosing divorced in 1975. His third marriage, to Star Search champion Cyndi James-Reese, took place on December 25, 1987. They adopted a son, Sharron (born 1977). Gossett and James-Reese divorced in 1992.

Louis is the first cousin of actor Robert Gossett who starred on TNT's The Closer.

Gossett states that in 1966 he was handcuffed to a tree for three hours by the police in Beverly Hills.

On February 9, 2010, Gossett announced that he had prostate cancer. He added the disease was caught in its early stages, and he expected to make a full recovery.

On July 18, 2016, Gossett cohosted as a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies' primetime lineup. Allowed to choose four movies to air, he selected Blackboard Jungle, Lifeboat, Touch of Evil and The Night of the Hunter.

In late December 2020, Gossett was hospitalized in Georgia with COVID-19.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Raisin in the Sun, AA Raisin in the Sun	George Murchison
1969	Bushbaby, TheThe Bushbaby	Tembo
1970	Landlord, TheThe Landlord	Copee
1971	Skin Game	Jason O'Rourke
1972	Travels with My Aunt	Zachary / 'Wordsworth'
1973	The Fuzz Brothers	Francis Fuzz
1973	Laughing Policeman, TheThe Laughing Policeman	Inspector James Larrimore
1974	White Dawn, TheThe White Dawn	Portagee
1976	River Niger, TheThe River Niger	Dr. Dudley Stanton
1976	J. D.'s Revenge	Reverend Elija Bliss
1977	Deep, TheThe Deep	Henri Cloche
1977	Choirboys, TheThe Choirboys	Calvin Motts
1980	It Rained All Night the Day I Left	Leo Garcia
1982	Officer and a Gentleman, AnAn Officer and a Gentleman	Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
1983	Jaws 3-D	Calvin Bouchard	Nominated — Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor
1984	Finders Keepers	Century
1985	Enemy Mine	Jareeba 'Jerry' Sheegan	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
1986	Iron Eagle	Colonel Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1986	Firewalker	Leo Porter
1987	Principal, TheThe Principal	Jake Phillips
1987	A Gathering of Old Men	Mathu
1988	Iron Eagle II	Colonel / Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1989	Punisher, TheThe Punisher	Detective Jake Berkowitz
1991	Cover Up	CIA Chief Lou Jackson
1991	Toy Soldiers	Dean Parker
1992	Aces: Iron Eagle III	Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1992	Diggstown	Roy 'Honey Roy' Palmer
1993	Monolith	Captain MacCandless
1994	Flashfire	Ben Durand
1994	Blue Chips	Father Dawkins
1994	Good Man in Africa, AA Good Man in Africa	Professor Sam Adekunle
1994	Curse of the Starving Class	Ellis
1995	Iron Eagle on the Attack	Brigadier General Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair (Ret.)
1996	Managua	Paul
1997	Wall That Heals, TheThe Wall That Heals	Narrator
1997	Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy	Corbeck
1999	Terminal Countdown	Morgan
2000	The Highwayman	Phil Bishop
2002	Deceived	Colonel David Garrett	Direct-to-video release
2005	Window	Ralph Stanley	Included as part of African American Short Films
2005	Left Behind: World at War	President Gerald Fitzhugh
2006	All In	Caps
2006	Club Soda	'Doc'
2007	Daddy's Little Girls	Willie
2007	Cover	Detective Hicks
2008	Perfect Game, TheThe Perfect Game	Cool Papa Bell
2008	Delgo	Zahn	Voice only
2009	Dog Jack	Grown Up Jed
2009	Shannon's Rainbow	Max Donovan
2009	Least Among You, TheThe Least Among You	Samuel Benton
2010	Smitty	Mr. Smith
2010	Why Did I Get Married Too?	Porter
2011	Grace Card, TheThe Grace Card	George Wright
2011	Fonder Heart, AA Fonder Heart	Glen
2011	Lamp, TheThe Lamp	The Genie
2012	The Undershepherd	Bishop Redford
2014	A Fighting Man	'Cubby'
2014	The Dependables	Lou Jones
2015	Boiling Pot	Detective Haven
2017	Undercover Grandpa	Mother
2017	Double Play	'Coco'
2017	Breaking Brooklyn	Miles Bryant
2019	Foster Boy	Judge
2019	The Cuban	Luis Garcia
2019	Supervized	Pendle
2021	Not to Forget	Pastor John
2022	Three Months	Benny
2023	The Color Purple	Ol' Mister	Post-production
2024	IF	0TBA	Filming

Television

Theatre

• 1964: Supporting role in the Broadway musical adaptation of Odets' Golden Boy.
• 2006: Dvorak's New World: Chamber Music Plus. Louis Gossett Jr., narrator, with Aubrey Allicock (Baritone), Sanda Schuldmann (piano), and Harry Clark (writer).