Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win a supporting actor Oscar for his role in An Officer And A Gentleman, has died aged 87.

The actor’s nephew confirmed he died on Thursday night in Santa Monica, California.

No cause of death was revealed.

Gossett became the third black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category in 1983.

He won for his performance as the intimidating Marine drill instructor in An Officer And A Gentleman opposite Richard Gere and Debra Winger in 1982.

He also won a Golden Globe for the same role.

“The Oscar gave me the ability of being able to choose good parts in movies like Enemy Mine, Sadat and Iron Eagle,” Gossett said in film expert, Dave Karger’s, 2024 book “50 Oscar Nights”.

Man arrested after death of Gogglebox star George Gilbey is released under investigation

Bill Nighy on style, social media and holy socks: ‘I can’t operate in the wrong kind of trousers’

Song lyrics have become angrier and more repetitive since the 80s, study finds

He said his statue was in storage.

Born on 27 May 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, Gossett later added Junior to his name to honour his father.

He broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery.

He would go on to be awarded Emmy Award for the role.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

Black Widow, Luxe House Sydney and The Surrogate Caroline Flack’s ex-fiance pleads guilty to harassing journalist Dan Wootton Former teacher wins book of the year with ‘joyous’ sonnet collection K-Pop star killed in Seoul Halloween crowd crush Victoria Beckham’s daughter-in-law denies ‘feud’ over wedding dress US country star, 37, dies hours after getting married Squid Game star to stand trial on indecent assault charges Jeremy Renner wrote ‘last words’ to family after snow plough accident ‘Have some respect’: Radio 1 DJ pulled off air after clash during live Ibiza show Axl Rose, Jamie Foxx and NYC mayor accused of sexual assault as window for historical lawsuits closes Baz Luhrmann: Film industry ‘way behind’ on governing AI Museum seeks Taylor Swift ‘superfan’ adviser