Louis Gossett, Jr. Video | Basketball Clips and Interviews

Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, and his Emmy Award-winning role as Fiddler in the 1977 ABC television miniseries Roots. Gossett has also starred in numerous film productions including A Raisin In The Sun, Skin Game, Travels with My Aunt, The Laughing Policeman, The Deep, Jaws 3-D (as SeaWorld manager Calvin Bouchard), Wolfgang Peterson's Enemy Mine, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher, in an acting... MORE

Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, and his Emmy Award-winning role as Fiddler in the 1977 ABC television miniseries Roots. Gossett has also starred in numerous film productions including A Raisin In The Sun, Skin Game, Travels with My Aunt, The Laughing Policeman, The Deep, Jaws 3-D (as SeaWorld manager Calvin Bouchard), Wolfgang Peterson's Enemy Mine, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher, in an acting career that spans over five decades. Gossett, Jr. was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to Hellen Rebecca (née Wray), a nurse, and Louis Gossett, Sr., a porter. His stage debut came at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can't Take It with You when a sports injury resulted in the decision to take an acting class. Polio had already delayed his graduation. After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1954, he attended New York University, declining an athletic scholarship. Standing 6'4" (1.93 m), he was offered the opportunity to play varsity basketball during his college LESS