Louis Gossett Jr.

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Born

1936-05-27

Place of Birth

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Louis Gossett Jr.

Biography

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.

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Known For

Family Guy

Family Guy

Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1

Hawaii Five-0

Hawaii Five-0

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Psych

Psych

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Bonanza

Bonanza

ER

The Good Fight

The Good Fight

Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie

Acting History

IF as Lewis (voice)

The Color Purple as Ol' Mister

Outlaw Johnny Black as Reverend Tharrington (voice) (uncredited)

Three Months as Benny

Not to Forget as Pastor John

I Forgive as God (voice)

The Reason as Pastor Jim

The Cuban as Luis Garcia

Miracle in East Texas as Irving Tanner Jr.

Watchmen as Old Man / Will Reeves

Foster Boy as Judge George Taylor

Supervized as Pendle

The Gang Activists as Self

Breaking Brooklyn as Miles Bryant

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart as Self

Undercover Grandpa as Mother

The Good Fight as Carl Reddick

Double Play as Coco

King of the Dancehall as The Bishop

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise as Self

A.C. Green: Iron Virgin as Himself

Boiling Pot as Detective Haven

The Spoils Before Dying as Duke Webster

The Book of Negroes as Daddy Moses

Madam Secretary as Laurent Vasseur

Extant as Quinn

The Dependables as Lou Jones

A Fighting Man as Cubby

Miracle at Gate 213 as Roy Peddington

Smitty as Mr. Smith

The Undershepherd as Bishop Redford

Dog Jack as Grown up Jed

The Grace Card as George Wright

Hawaii Five-0 as Lou's father

Why Did I Get Married Too? as Porter

The Perfect Game as Cool Papa Bell

Celebrity Ghost Stories as Self

Amazing Racer as Max Donovan

The Least Among You as Samuel Benton

Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy as Self

Delgo as King Zahn (voice)

A Love Story of Today as Self

A Special Kind of Love as Self

Stanley Kramer: A Man's Search for Truth as Self

The Black List: Volume One as Self

Stories USA as Doc (segment "Club Soda")

Cover as Detective Hicks

Daddy's Little Girls as Willie

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas as Self

Club Soda as Doc

Psych as Lloyd Marr

Solar Attack as President Ryan Gordon

Left Behind: World at War as President Geral Fitzhugh

Lackawanna Blues as Ol'lem Taylor

Black in the 80s

The Batman as Lucius Fox (voice)

Jasper, Texas as R.C. Horn

Momentum as Raymond Addison

Half & Half as Ray Willis

The Dead Zone as Pastor David Lewis

What About Your Friends: Weekend Get-Away as Dr. Barnes

Deceived as Col. David Garrett

For Love of Olivia as Daniel Stewart

The Color of Love: Jacey's Story as Lou Hastings

The Inspectors 2: A Shred of Evidence as Frank

The Highwayman as Phil Bishop

Strange Justice as Vernon Jordan

Love Songs as Reuben

Family Guy as Drill Sargent (voice)

The Inspectors as Inspector Frank Hughes

Hercules as Chiron (voice)

The Wall That Heals as Self - Host

Legend of the Mummy as Corbeck

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood as Self

Stargate SG-1 as Gerak

In His Father's Shoes as Frank Crosby / Richard

To Dance with Olivia as Daniel Stewart

Early Edition as Jim Matthews

Promised Land as Anderson Walker

Inside as Questioner

Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story as Bob Kersee

Captive Heart: The James Mink Story as James Mink

Managua as Paul

Iron Eagle on the Attack as Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies as Self

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder as Ray Alexander

Zooman as Rueben Tate

A Father for Charlie as Walter Osgood

Kings of the Ring: Four Legends of Heavyweight Boxing as Narrator

Touched by an Angel as Anderson Walker

ER as Leo Malcolm

Flashfire as Ben Durand

Curse of the Starving Class as Ellis

A Good Man in Africa as Prof. Sam Adekunle

Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice as Ray Alexander

Ellen as Sgt. Timko

Blue Chips as Father Dawkins (uncredited)

Return to Lonesome Dove as Isom Pickett

Monolith as Capt. MacCandless

Father & Son: Dangerous Relations as Leonard Clay

Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II as Reader

Picket Fences as Rick Jennings

Diggstown as "Honey" Roy Palmer

Iron Eagle III as Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

Keeper of the City as Det. James Dela

Carolina Skeletons as James Bragg

Toy Soldiers as Dean Parker

The Josephine Baker Story as Sidney Williams

Cover-Up as Lou Jackson

Captain Planet and the Planeteers as Commander Clash (voice)

Sudie and Simpson as Simpson

El Diablo as Van Leek

Zora is My Name!

The Punisher as Jake Berkowitz

Roots: The Gift as Fiddler

Goodbye, Miss 4th of July as Big John Creed

Iron Eagle II as Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

American Experience as Self - Narrator

Sam Found Out: A Triple Play as Sam

The Father Clements Story

The Principal as Jake Phillips

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood as Self

A Gathering of Old Men as Mathu

Firewalker as Leo Porter

Iron Eagle as Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair

Enemy Mine as Jeriba 'Jerry' Shigan

The Guardian as John Mack

Finders Keepers as Century

Sadat as Anwar al-Sadat

Jaws 3-D as Calvin Bouchard

The Making of Jaws 3-D: Sharks Don't Die as narrator

The Powers of Matthew Star as Walter "Walt" Shepherd (D'Hai)

An Officer and a Gentleman as Sergeant Emil Foley

Benny's Place as Benny Moore

I Love Liberty as Self

Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige as Leroy 'Satchel' Paige

It Rained All Night the Day I Left as Leo Garcia

Palmerstown, U.S.A.

The Lazarus Syndrome as Dr. MacArthur St. Clair

The Lazarus Syndrome as MacArthur St. Clair

Lawman Without a Gun as Tom Hayward

Backstairs at the White House as Levi Mercer, Houseman

The Critical List as Lem Harper

To Kill a Cop as Everett Walker

The Choirboys as Calvin Motts

The Deep as Henri Cloche

Please Turn the Page as Self

Roots as Fiddler

Little Ladies of the Night as Russ Garfield

J.D.'s Revenge as Rev. Elija Bliss

The River Niger as Dr. Dudley Stanton

Saturday Night Live as Self - Host

Delancey Street: The Crisis Within as Otis James

Black Bart as Black Bart

The Rockford Files as Marcus Aurelius Hayes / O'Brien

The Rockford Files as Marcus Aurelius 'Gabby' Hayes

Harry O as Cleon Jackson

Little House on the Prairie as Henry Hill

Petrocelli as Kurt Olson, DA

Petrocelli as District Attorney Kurt Olson

The White Dawn as Portagee

Sidekicks as Jason O'Rourke

It's Good to Be Alive as Sam Brockington

The Six Million Dollar Man as O'Flaherty

The Laughing Policeman as Insp. James Larrimore SFPD

The American Film Institute Salute to ... as Self

Travels with My Aunt as Wordsworth

Skin Game as Jason O'Rourke

Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law as Lt. Carl Fellows

Alias Smith and Jones

The Partridge Family as Sam Simon

The Young Rebels

The Landlord as Copee Johnson

Love, American Style as Freddy

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors as Dr. Karnes

The Bill Cosby Show as Hurricane Smith

The Bushbaby as Tembo

Companions in Nightmare as Lt. Adam McKay

The Mod Squad as Smitty

The Mod Squad as Charley Jameson

The Mod Squad as Lloyd

Cowboy in Africa as Fulah

Cowboy in Africa as Joseph Hemera

The Invaders as Ollie

Daktari as Mkono

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self

The Merv Griffin Show as Self

The Mike Douglas Show as Self

A Raisin in the Sun as George Murchison

The New Girl as Mary's Brother

Bonanza as Buck Walter

The Oscars as Self

The Ed Sullivan Show as Self

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Audience Member

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Host

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee / Presenter

Straight Up as Cosmo

Crimes of Violence as Self - Host

Forget to Remember

Gridiron Gang as Host