Louis Gossett Jr.

Known for: Acting
Born: May 27, 1936, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died: March 29, 2024
Movies: 145

Louis Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024) was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" and as Fiddler in the television miniseries "Roots". He won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards in an acting career that spanned over five decades.

Upcoming Louis Gossett Jr. Movies

Unplugged

Release date TBA

Best-Known Movies

6.9

2024

4.5

Jaws 3-D

1983

7.0

An Officer and a Gentleman

1982

7.0

Enemy Mine

1985

5.8

The Punisher

1989

6.5

Toy Soldiers

1991

7.0

The Color Purple

2023

5.6

Iron Eagle

1986

6.4

The Principal

1987

6.1

The Deep

1977

Filmography

2025	Sin	Elijah
2024	IF	Lewis (voice)
2023	The Color Purple	Ol' Mister
2023	Outlaw Johnny Black	Reverend Tharrington (voice) (uncredited)
2022	Sidney	Self
2022	Three Months	Benny
2022	African Redemption: The Life and Legacy of Marcus Garvey	Self
2021	Not to Forget	Pastor John
2021	I Forgive	God (voice)
2020	The Reason	Pastor Jim
2020	The Cuban	Luis Garcia
2020	Miracle in East Texas	Irving Tanner Jr.
2019	Foster Boy	Judge George Taylor
2019	Supervized	Pendle
2019	The Gang Activists	Self
2019	Hal	Self
2018	Breaking Brooklyn	Miles Bryant
2017	Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart	Self
2017	Undercover Grandpa	Mother
2017	Double Play	Coco
2017	King of the Dancehall	The Bishop
2016	Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise	Self
2016	A.C. Green: Iron Virgin	Himself
2015	Boiling Pot	Detective Haven
2014	The Dependables	Lou Jones
2014	A Fighting Man	Cubby
2013	Miracle at Gate 213	Roy Peddington
2013	Breaking at the Edge	Floyd
2012	Smitty	Mr. Smith
2012	The Undershepherd	Bishop Redford
2011	Dog Jack	Grown up Jed
2011	The Grace Card	George Wright
2010	Why Did I Get Married Too?	Porter
2009	The Perfect Game	Cool Papa Bell
2009	Amazing Racer	Max Donovan
2009	The Least Among You	Samuel Benton
2009	Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy	Self
2008	Delgo	King Zahn (voice)
2008	Stanley Kramer: A Man's Search for Truth	Self
2008	A Love Story of Today	Self
2008	A Special Kind of Love	Self
2008	The Black List: Volume One	Self
2007	Stories USA	Doc (segment "Club Soda")
2007	Cover	Detective Hicks
2007	Daddy's Little Girls	Willie
2007	The 50 Greatest Television Dramas	Self
2006	Club Soda	Doc
2006	Solar Attack	President Ryan Gordon
2006	All In	Caps
2005	Left Behind: World at War	President Geral Fitzhugh
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Ol'lem Taylor
2003	Jasper, Texas	R.C. Horn
2003	Momentum	Raymond Addison
2002	What About Your Friends: Weekend Get-Away	Dr. Barnes
2002	Deceived	Col. David Garrett
2001	For Love of Olivia	Daniel Stewart
2001	Dr. Lucille
2000	The Color of Love: Jacey's Story	Lou Hastings
2000	The Inspectors 2: A Shred of Evidence	Frank
2000	The Highwayman	Phil Bishop
1999	Strange Justice	Vernon Jordan
1999	Y2K	Morgan
1999	Love Songs	Reuben
1998	The Inspectors	Inspector Frank Hughes
1998	The Wall That Heals	Self - Host
1998	Legend of the Mummy	Corbeck
1998	Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood	Self
1997	In His Father's Shoes	Frank Crosby / Richard
1997	To Dance with Olivia	Daniel Stewart
1996	Inside	Questioner
1996	Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story	Bob Kersee
1996	Captive Heart: The James Mink Story	James Mink
1996	Managua	Paul
1995	Iron Eagle on the Attack	Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1995	The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies	Self
1995	Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder	Ray Alexander
1995	Zooman	Rueben Tate
1995	A Father for Charlie	Walter Osgood
1995	Kings of the Ring: Four Legends of Heavyweight Boxing	Narrator
1994	Flashfire	Ben Durand
1994	Curse of the Starving Class	Ellis
1994	A Good Man in Africa	Prof. Sam Adekunle
1994	Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice	Ray Alexander
1994	Blue Chips	Father Dawkins (uncredited)
1993	Monolith	Capt. MacCandless
1993	Father & Son: Dangerous Relations	Leonard Clay
1992	Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II	Reader (voice)
1992	Gridiron Gang	Host
1992	Diggstown	"Honey" Roy Palmer
1992	Iron Eagle III	Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1991	Keeper of the City	Det. James Dela
1991	A Party For Richard Pryor	Self
1991	Carolina Skeletons	James Bragg
1991	Toy Soldiers	Dean Parker
1991	The Josephine Baker Story	Sidney Williams
1991	Cover-Up	Lou Jackson
1990	Sudie and Simpson	Simpson
1990	El Diablo	Van Leek
1990	Zora is My Name!
1989	The Punisher	Jake Berkowitz
1988	Roots: The Gift	Fiddler
1988	Goodbye, Miss 4th of July	Big John Creed
1988	Iron Eagle II	Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1988	Sam Found Out: A Triple Play	Sam
1988	Straight Up	Cosmo
1987	The Father Clements Story
1987	The Principal	Jake Phillips
1987	Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood	Self
1987	A Gathering of Old Men	Mathu
1986	Firewalker	Leo Porter
1986	Iron Eagle	Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
1985	Enemy Mine	Jeriba 'Jerry' Shigan
1984	The Guardian	John Mack
1984	Finders Keepers	Century
1983	Jaws 3-D	Calvin Bouchard
1983	The Making of Jaws 3-D: Sharks Don't Die	narrator
1982	An Officer and a Gentleman	Sergeant Emil Foley
1982	Benny's Place	Benny Moore
1982	I Love Liberty	Self
1981	Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige	Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
1980	It Rained All Night the Day I Left	Leo Garcia
1979	The Lazarus Syndrome	Dr. MacArthur St. Clair
1979	Lawman Without a Gun	Tom Hayward
1978	To Kill a Cop	Everett Walker
1978	The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots	Self
1977	Freeman	Rex
1977	The Choirboys	Calvin Motts
1977	The Deep	Henri Cloche
1977	Little Ladies of the Night	Russ Garfield
1976	J.D.'s Revenge	Rev. Elija Bliss
1976	The River Niger	Dr. Dudley Stanton
1975	Delancey Street: The Crisis Within	Otis James
1975	Black Bart	Black Bart
1974	The White Dawn	Portagee
1974	Sidekicks	Jason O'Rourke
1974	It's Good to Be Alive	Sam Brockington
1973	The Laughing Policeman	Insp. James Larrimore SFPD
1972	Travels with My Aunt	Wordsworth
1971	Skin Game	Jason O'Rourke
1970	The Landlord	Copee Johnson
1969	The Bushbaby	Tembo
1968	Companions in Nightmare	Lt. Adam McKay
1961	A Raisin in the Sun	George Murchison
1960	The New Girl	Mary's Brother

Directing, Writing & Producing

1999

Love Songs

Director

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