Actor, New York Knicks Tryout Star Louis Gossett Jr. Dies at 88

Louis Gossett Jr. earned a tryout with the New York Knicks before embarking on a lauded acting career.

Feb 28, 2016; Hollywood, CA, USA; Louis Gossett, Jr. speaks on stage during the 88th annual Academy / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. passed away at the age of 87 on Thursday, his nephew confirmed to the Associated Press.

Before embarking on a lauded acting career, Gossett, a New York City native born on Coney Island, earned a tryout with the New York Knicks toward the end of the 1950s after previously starring at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.

"I was at rookie training for the Knicks. I got a call from (playwright) Lorraine Hansberry to be a part of 'A Raisin in the Sun,'" Gossett recalled in a January interview with Janine Rubenstein of People, saying he eventually turned down the Knicks for a bigger payday on Broadway. "(That was) more money than most professional athletes had in the bank at the time. I put the basketball down, and the rest is history.”

Spurning the Knicks for show business turned out to be more lucrative than Gossett could've perhaps realized, as he embarked on a career best-known for his role in the 1982 romantic drama "An Officer and a Gentleman." His performance as no-nonsense Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley earned him both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the first black actor to win the former's edition.

Feb 28, 2016; Hollywood, CA, USA; Louis Gossett, Jr. speaks on stage during the 88th annual / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Beyond that, Gossett also earned an Emmy Award for his appearance on the ABC miniseries "Roots," where he portrayed Fiddler, an older slave who serves as a mentor to the series protagonist Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton). Gossett was also well-known for his role in the cult classic "Iron Eagle" and was the only actor to appear in each of its three sequels as well.

More recently, Gossett had a starring role on the HBO miniseries based on the "Watchmen" graphic novel and appeared in the 2023 remake of "The Color Purple." Gossett will posthumously have a voice role in "IF," an upcoming fantasy comedy film directed by John Krasinski.