R.I.P. Louis Gossett Jr.: First Black Actor To Win Oscar For Best Supporting Role Dead At 87 [Video]

Louis Gossett Jr., who was the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1982 romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman, has died. He was 87.

The actor died Thursday night (March 28) in Santa Monica, CA, his nephew confirmed to the Associated Press. No official cause of death has been announced, though it was previously revealed that he was diagnosed with the early stages of prostate cancer in 2010.

Gossett began acting in his high school production of You Can’t Take It with You when he was benched on the basketball team due to an injury. He ended up making his Broadway debut when he was only 16 years old in the play Take a Giant Step, according to AP News.

After attending New York University, he made his Hollywood debut in the 1961 film version of A Raisin in the Sun. He previously starred in the Broadway version alongside Sidney …