Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. talks about winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for An Officer and a Gentleman in 1983 - the first African American man to win for acting in a supporting role, and only the second African American man to win for acting up to that time. Though he celebrates this achievement, he shares that it did not necessarily translate to more work in the film industry:
"I didn’t work in movies for another year. People weren’t ready for me to win, I guess. Television was ready, ’cause I worked every week in television, but movies took a minute."
Watch Louis Gossett, Jr.'s full interview (co-produced with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Visual History Program) to hear stories from his Emmy-winning role on Roots, his Oscar win, and much more.
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