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Louis Gossett
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Louis Gossett, Jr. is one of the most sought after and busiest
actors working in theatrical feature films and
television today.
Mr. Gossett' s current production, “The Inspectors,” tells the
story of a seasoned postal inspector who is
teamed with a young investigator on a case involving a fatal letter
bombing. Executive Produced by Gossett
and his production company, Logo Entertainment, this original drama
premiered on the Showtime Network
in the fall of 1998.
Another recent Logo production, “In His Father 's Shoes,” aired
on Showtime in June 1997. Also Executive
Produced by Gossett and Logo Entertainment, this original family
film deals with a young boy's journey
into his father's past by using a pair of magical shoes that enable
him to inhabit his father's body.
The film was nominated for an Achievement in Cable Excellence
(ACE) Award and was honored with the
Parents' Choice Gold Award. “In His Father 's Shoes” also recently
received an Emmy Award for Best
Children's Special.
Mr. Gossett has also appeared in numerous network television
films including the CBS movie of the week
“To Dance with Olivia.” In addition to starring in the project,
Gossett served as Executive Producer with
Logo Entertainment. The story centers on a lawyer, husband and
father whose wife has become a recluse
after the shooting death of their young son. This family movie aired
on CBS in March 1997.
Just before “To Dance with Olivia,” Mr. Gossett completed an
original film for Showtime entitled “Run for
the Dream: The Gail Dever's story.” This film is based on the actual
story of coach Bob Kersee who helped
his star runner, Gail Devers, overcome a crippling disease in time
to win a gold medal at the 1994
Olympics. Gossett's production company, Logo Entertainment,
Co-Executive Produced the film. “Run for
the Dream” aired on Showtime and the USA Network in the summer of
1996.
Only a few weeks prior to beginning production on “Run for the
Dream,” Gossett had just completed
shooting and Executive Producing the feature film “Inside.” This
taut and engrossing drama recounts the
treatment of political prisoners in South Africa during Apartheid.
Mr. Gossett co-starred along with Nigel
Hawthorne and Eric Stoltz in this film directed by Arthur Penn. The
film was presented at the Cannes Film
Festival in 1997 and Gossett was nominated for an Achievement in
Cable Excellence (ACE) award for his
role as "The Questioner."
In 1995, Gossett starred in “Zooman,” written by Charles Fuller
for Showtime. Fuller adapted the
screenplay from his award winning Broadway play, “Zooman and the
Sign.” That same year, Gossett
filmed the CBS movie “Captive Heart: The James Mink Story.” As well
as starring in the lead role, Gossett
served as Executive Consultant on the film, which aired on the
network in April, 1996.
In the fall of 1994, Gossett shot “Ray Alexander: A Menu for
Murder,” the second film in a series of
movies for NBC. The series was Co-Produced by Dean Hargrove and Logo
Entertainment. Prior to this, he
starred in “A Father for Charlie,” which was also Executive Produced
by Logo Entertainment. This film
aired in January of 1995 on CBS.
Gossett portrayed the character of Walter Osgood, a man who
insists on remaining on his family farm in
the Depression-era Ozarks despite long, ongoing attempts by bigoted
locals to drive him out. The story
revolves around Osgood forming an unlikely bond with Charlie
Cantwell, a ten-year-old boy who has been
abandoned by his racist, abusive father.
At the beginning of the year, Gossett completed filming “Curse of
the Starving Class,” co-starring James
Woods and Kathy Bates. In this movie written by Sam Shepard, he
plays the owner of a club who comes to
the aid of a farmer about to lose his land.
Also in 1994, Gossett was seen in a starring role in the
mini-series “Return to Lonesome Dove,” a
continuation of the critically acclaimed “Lonesome Dove.” In “Return
to Lonesome Dove,” Gossett played
Isom Dart, a trail-wise cowboy who, together with his brother, is
enlisted to lead a trail of mustangs cross
country to Lonesome Dove. The show also starred Jon Voight, Rick
Schroeder, Oliver Reed and Barbara
Hershey.
Early in 1993, Gossett traveled to South Africa where he
co-starred with Sean Connery in “A Goodman in
Africa.” In this film, Gossett plays a U.S. educated politician who
is running what seems to be a victorious
campaign for the presidency of South Africa. The film was released
in 1994.
In March 1993, another Logo Entertainment production for NBC,
“Father & Son; Dangerous Relations”
premiered to top ratings in its time slot and was one of the highest
rated shows of the week. Also starring
Blair Underwood, the story was of a father and son who have not seen
each other in twenty years and meet
again in jail. They are then pardoned into each other's custody.
The physical demands of playing a tough, hardened con in “Father
& Son” was tempered somewhat by
Gossett's top notch physical condition. Just prior to shooting,
Gossett completed a most physically
demanding role as "Honey Roy Palmer" in the MGM feature film,
“Diggstown.” It was a role that sent
Gossett back into the gym for the first time in years where he lost
more than 35 pounds. For eight weeks, he
trained six hours a day, six days a week. Equally important to this
training was a cutting diet, which
consisted of very little solid food and high quantities of special
vitamins.
Gossett has received critical acclaim and commercial success over
the years for his body of work. He won a
Los Angeles Drama Critic Award for his performance in the play
“Murderous Angles.” In 1977, Gossett
won an Emmy, television's highest honor, for his portrayal of
"Fiddler" in the historic television miniseries,
“Roots.” His great grandmother, a strong willed former slave who
lived to be 117, provided him
with part of the inspiration for his role.
In 1982, he electrified the world when he won an Oscar for his
role of "Sergeant Foley" in the hit film, “An
Officer and a Gentleman.” In 1992, he won a Golden Globe award for
his role in HBO's The Josephine
Baker Story. In 1998, he was awarded the NAACP Image Award for his
guest-starring role in the critically
acclaimed and popular CBS series, “Touched by an Angel.”
Gossett has also received seven additional Emmy nominations for
his performances in “Sadat” (Operation
Prime Time Network), “A Gathering of Old Men” (CBS), “Palmer 's
Town” (CBS), “The Century
Collection Presents Ben Vereen-His Roots” (ARC), “Backstage at the
White House” (NBC) the CB S
drama “Touched by an Angel” and, most recently, for “In His Father
's Shoes” (SHOWTIME. ) He has also
received Achievement in Cable Excellence (ACE) award nominations for
his performances in “Sudie &
Simpson,” “Inside and In His Father 's Shoes.” In addition, he has
given critically acclaimed performances
in many other films including “The Deep,” “The River Niger,” “The
Landlord,” “The Laughing
Policeman,” “Enemy Mine,” the “Iron Eagle” films, “The Principle,”
“Toy Soldiers,” “Diggstown” and
“Tucker & Flynn.”
Gossett has also starred in the acclaimed television movies
“Roots: The Gift” (ABC), “The Father
Clements Story” (NBC), “Goodbye Miss Fourth of July”
(DisneyChannel), “El Diablo” (HBO), “Zora is
My Name” (PBS), “The Guardian” (HBO), “Carolina Skeletons” (NBC) and
“Keeper of the City”
(Showtime). He appeared on television in “Don't Look Back” as the
legendary baseball pitcher, Satchel
Paige. He has also starred in NBC's “Gideon Oliver,” a two-hour
wheel produced by the Emmy winner,
William Sackheim.
Born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York, Gossett
attended Abraham Lincoln High School
where he was a top student and class president, as well as an
athlete who won letters in three sports,
including basketball, where he won all-city honors.
While sidelined from high school sports with an injury, a Lincoln
High drama teacher suggested that
Gossett take a stab at acting in a school production of “You Can't
Take It With You.” He proved to be so
riveting on stage that the same teacher suggested he try out for an
open casting call on Broadway. It was for
the production of “Take a Giant Step.” At 16 years old, Gossett won
the role over 400 others.
His performance won for him the Donaldson award as "Best Newcomer in
the Theatre" and got him
thinking about his priorities: basketball or acting? He decided on
both.
He went to New York University on a basketball and drama
scholarship. He starred not only on the court
but also in dozens of theatrical productions including The Desk Set
opposite Shirley Booth, Kurt Wiell ' s
Lost in The Stars and a musical version of Golden Boy.
At an age when most young men are just starting out, Gossett was
well on his way towards making his
mark. Being the star basketball player in college, he was invited to
try out for the New York Knicks. At the
same time, he won a coveted Broadway role opposite Sidney Poitier in
“A Raisin In The Sun.”
Gossett reported to the Knicks but decided to pursue Broadway
after catching several shots in the mouth
under the basket hoop. "I knew right then I wasn't hungry enough and
I had an option, " he says.
Following his acclaimed Broadway performance, he came to California
to recreate his role in “Raisin In
The Sun” for the film version directed by Dan Petrie. He has
alternated between film and television ever
since, going back to the stage whenever he can.
Besides being one of the most talented and versatile actors
working in Hollywood, Gossett maintains a
strong commitment to helping others by giving back to the community
both as a spokesperson and as a
behind-the-scenes leader of a number of organizations.
One of Gossett's community projects is "The Family Tree," geared
to bonding youngsters throughout the
U.S. who do not have a very solid family foundation. This project is
very close to Gossett because it relates
to his experiences growing up in Brooklyn where he had a childhood
filled with love as well as discipline
and strong community morals.
Mr. Gossett's father was a hard working man who rose from being a
porter to becoming the head of the
billing department of the local gas company. His mother worked as a
domestic and then went on to
complete her education. As a result, she could not always be there
for him. Neighbors took him in to make
sure he was fed and looked after until his parents came home from
their jobs. Through his efforts, Gossett
hopes to instill the same kind of family/neighbor bonding in cities
across America.
He was also very active in United Way's past fund-raising
campaigns, including television appeals
nationwide. In 1991, he starred in “Something to Believe In,” United
Way' s campaign film, which outlined
how the organization continues to work for all of us.
Additionally, Gossett has given his time and energy to help The
Muscular Dystrophy Association, The
United Negro College Fund, the United Nations "World Summit for
Children, " The Creative Community
for N on- Violence, Boy's Hope, Housing Now, Brothers Against Drugs,
The End Hunger Network, Shaka
Franklin Foundation, National Rainbow Coalition, Theatre Authority,
Inc., Artists for a Free South Africa,
Coalition to Stop the Violence and he serves on the Board of
Trustees for the Challengers Boys and Girls
Clubs of Los Angeles.
He has been garnered with similar acclaim for his work on behalf
of the less fortunate including the Wings
ofHope Ant-Drug Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Alumni Award, an
Honorary Big Brother Award and
Indiana state's Senator Carolina Mosby's Above and Beyond Award.
Nearly fifteen years ago while watching ABC's “Good Morning,
America,” he saw a segment about the
children in America who are victims of poverty. One boy, age seven,
who lived in St. Louis, Missouri
caught his eye. With the help of the segment producer from Good
Morning, America, Gossett tracked down
the youngster and his family and offered to adopt him. Today, this
young man has a promising future and
continues to see his natural family on a regular basis. Mr.
Gossett's first son also lives in the Los Angeles
area.
Louis Gossett, Jr. has had an extraordinary career by any
standards but he is not resting on his laurels. If
anything, he's out looking for the next mountain to climb.
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