When I watched the musical movie of The Color Purple, I noticed Louis Gossett Jr. and thought it was definitely time to do a retrospective of his frock flick roles. While he’s best remembered for his searing, Oscar-winning performance in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), much of Gossett’s early work was in historical costume movies and TV. Unfortunately, he died last month, so I’ve moved up this Man Candy Monday in his honor. He said in a memoir, “Sometimes I believe that the reason I have been able to do such exemplary work on the screen is because this is the only place I can be free, neither censured nor judged.” Rest in power, sir!
Isak Poole in The Young Rebels (1970)
Buck Walter in Bonanza (1971)
Jason in Skin Game (1971)
Sam Brockington in It’s Good to Be Alive (1974)
Jason O’Rourke in Sidekicks (1974)
Portagee in The White Dawn (1974)
Black Bart in Black Bart (1975)
Henry Hill in Little House on the Prairie (1976)
Fiddler in Roots (1977)
Tom Hayward in Lawman Without a Gun (1978)
Houseman Levi Mercer in Backstairs at the White House (1979)
Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige in Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige (1981)
Anwar al-Sadat in Sadat (1983)
Big John Creed in Goodbye, Miss 4th of July (1988)
Fiddler Reynolds in Roots: The Gift (1988)
Van Leek in El Diablo (1990)
Simpson in Sudie and Simpson (1990)
Sidney Williams in The Josephine Baker Story (1991)
Isom Pickett in Return to Lonesome Dove (1993)
Walter Osgood in A Father for Charlie (1995)
James Mink in Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (1996)
Daniel Stewart in To Dance With Olivia (1997)
Daniel Stewart in For Love of Olivia (2001)
Ol’lem Taylor in Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Cool Papa Bell in The Perfect Game (2009)
Oscar Boneau in Boardwalk Empire (2013)
Daddy Moses in The Book of Negroes (2015)
Ol’ Mister in The Color Purple (2023)
How will you remember Louis Gossett Jr.?
That’s a lot of hair for the 1910/20s in Goodbye Miss 4th Of July? It’s also a Disney production, so I’ll take it with a grain of salt!
He had a supporting roll in Travels With My Aunt, with Maggie Smith starring as a free.spirited worldly woman. Gosset plays her lover, Wordsworth . It may be out of print but it had some great 20’s costumes