until the end of the opening night perfor- mance. The applause and laughter of the audience carried him away and made him feel something he had never felt before… He was hooked! Shortly after the performance in school
Gossett went to Manhattan for tryouts of Take a Giant Step and was given the role of Spencer Scott. He was accepted and took on his first acting class, a ten-week regimen to change the Brooklyn-Jewish accent he had and learn a few things about acting. That summer, was the first summer of the rest of his life. Before Gossett knew it, he was acting in larger productions and heading to college on a basketball-drama scholarship at New York University. Gos- sett soon became a star on Broadway in Golden Boy and became friends with Ja- mes Dean and studied with Marilyn Mon- roe, Martin Landau and Steve McQueen. In 1961, Louis Gossett Jr. was given the
chance of a lifetime when he performed in the film version of A Raisin in the Sun. By 1965, Gossett filming in Hollywood, driving around a beautiful white Ford 500 Galaxie hard-top convertible and stay- ing at the glamorous Beverly Hills Hotel, all courtesy of Universal. Despite all the lavish treatment by the production com- pany, the streets of Los Angeles didn’t give him the same honor. While driving through the Los Angeles neighborhoods, he was pulled over several times and was accused of ‘fitting the description’ of so- mebody the police was looking for, had his arms chained around a tree for several hours while passersby’s threw trash and yelled derogatory obscenities. “Never be- fore had I felt that I was less of a person than a white man was,” describes Gossett of his horrifying experiences, “Now I had come face-to-face with racism, and it was an ugly sight. But it was not going to de- stroy me. As long as I understood the rules of the game, I would win.” Not allowing the discrimination to take
control, he continued to do his work on the set and focused on his work. Before he knew it, Gossett was a star! By 1977, he won an Emmy Award for his appearance as Fiddler in the ABC mini-series Roots. In 1983, he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in An Officer and a Gentleman, and in 1998 he recei- ved a NAACP Image Award for his sup- porting role in the drama series Touched By an Angel.
The Black E.O.E. Journal
Being a celebrity didn’t come easy,
there was a high price to pay. Gossett found himself surrounded by people who influenced him to drink, smoke and do drugs. “I was angry with myself, I al- lowed the influences to take control of me because I simply did not care,” says Gossett about his past addictions. In his book, An Actor and a Genleman, Gossett describes his experiences over the course of his career as well as his childhood. He describes how he has healed himself of addictions and gained the momentum to
bounce back and work diligently on new projects. Other topics covered include im- provement of relationships as well as the responsibilities of a father. Run-ins with acts of racism compelled
Gossett to start the Eracism Foundation in 2006. Since then, Louis Gossett Jr., has dedicated his life, an all out conscious of- fensive against racism, violence, and ig- norance. Gossett says, “With the NAACP, we now can take that final veneer of ra- cism away and be proactive to ourselves. Diversity is the key that brings all of us
Our mission is to eradicate the systematic impacts of all forms
of racism by providing programs that foster cultural diversity, historical enrichment, education, and antiviolence initiatives.
The organization is grounded in its vision to contribute to the betterment of our
society by addressing the negative impacts of racism therein. By addressing these is- sues, connecting individuals to their history/culture, and empowering them with the appropriate educational and training resources available in our programs, we will po- sition the recipients of these services to improve the quality of life in their respective communities. It is our belief that through this vital connection to such services and a connection to their past, individuals will be better equipped to embark on a positive future for the benefit of their collective communities in the process. For more information on visit,
www.eracismfoundation.org
www.blackeoejournal.com 63
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