Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winning American actor.
He was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where he was class president and an academic and athletic achiever. A sports injury left him with no choice but to take an acting class, and at 16 he made his stage debut in the school's production of You Can't Take It With You. After high school, he attended New York University, where he was a star basketball player.
Gossett was chosen to play for the New York Knicks, but he decided his true vocation was acting. He took a big step into the world of cinema in the Sidney Poitier vehicle A Raisin in the Sun in 1961.
Gossett made several TV guest appearances early in his career, including a role as a bounty hunter on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones. Gossett has starred in numerous film productions such as The Deep, An Officer and a Gentleman, Jaws 3-D (as SeaWorld manager Calvin Bouchard), Enemy Mine, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher. His role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman (opposite Richard Gere) showcased his talent and garnered him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
While filming An Officer and a Gentleman, Gossett was also starring in the 1982–1983 science fiction series, The Powers of Matthew Star.
Gossett's Broadway theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun (1959), Golden Boy (1964), and Chicago (2002).
Gossett also has performed in other media, including television productions. In fact, it was his Emmy award-winning role of "Fiddler" in the 1977 groundbreaking television miniseries Roots that first brought Gossett great notice. In 1983, Gossett was cast in the title role in Sadat, a miniseries which chronicled the life and assassination of Anwar Sadat. Egypt's government, often criticized by blacks and others as Afrophobic, objected to the casting choice and banned the production, which was critically acclaimed. The network stood by its casting decision.
Gossett is the voice of the Vortigaunts in the video game Half-Life 2 and is also the Free Jaffa Leader (Gerak) in Season 9 of Stargate SG-1.
He also played the role of US President Gerald Fitzhugh in the movie Left Behind: World at War.
Recently, Gosset provides the voice of Lucius Fox in The Batman.
As of June 2007, Gossett has signed on as spokesman for a (Nashville) based diabetic company, AmMed Direct, LLC.
