Louis Gossett Jr. was the first black man to win an Oscar as a supporting actor in An Officer and a Gentleman.
He was also an Emmy winner for his role in the influential television miniseries Roots. He died in Santa Monica, California, on Friday morning. His cause of death was not revealed, but his cousin said he was a man who walked alongside Nelson Mandela and who was also a great joke teller, standing up to and fighting racism with dignity and humor.