Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press.
Chadwick Boseman, the electric young star who projected so much vitality as the star of such films as Black Panther, Get on Up and 42, died Friday. He was 43.
Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife Taylor Simone Ledward and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press. Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago, his family said in a statement. He had never spoken publicly about his diagnosis.
“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” his family said in the statement. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more — all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”’
His death comes amid the nation’s emotional reckoning with racial justice and on baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day, in which every player in the big leagues wears No. 42. He portrayed the legendary Brooklyn Dodger in the Brian Helgeland-directed drama 42.In such a short time, Boseman proved eerily adept at capturing the essence of great Americans, whether it be Robinson; Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017), directed by Reginald Hudlin; or soul icon James Brown in Get on Up (2014).
Most recently, Boseman took a turn in Spike Lee’s latest, the June release Da 5 Bloods, as “Storming’” Norman Earl Holloway, a U.S. freedom fighter in the Vietnam War. The character is portrayed as a ghost and is seen in flashbacks.The South Carolina native, however, had his biggest cultural impact with his turn as Black Panther/King T’Challa, the proud king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. In 2016, Boseman appeared for the first time as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, and went on to headline his own Black Panther movie two years later. The film, directed by Ryan Coogler, Marvel Studios’ first Black director, became a cultural touchstone with its Black-led cast.
It went on to earn an astounding $1.34 billion globally, No. 14 on the global list of all-time releases. Nearly half of that came internationally, helping dispel tired Hollywood notions that Black-led films could not perform well overseas. Boseman’s Panther became an icon for children of color, coming at a time when representation was only just beginning to become a priority in Hollywood. Boseman learned he was cast as Black Panther when his manager pulled him off a red carpet event in Zurich while he was promoting Get on Up to alert him he had a call from Marvel and Civil War filmmakers the Russo brothers, offering him the part.
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Four years later, he was headlining the Los Angeles premiere of Black Panther, which began with an emotional standing ovation for the cast.“I hope people will watch this movie and see the hero in themselves,” Boseman told The Hollywood Reporter at the event. “Even if it’s a white person who sees it, if they can see a Black character and identify with them, it changes a little bit about how our society is.”
Survivors include his brothers Kevin, a dancer and singer, and Derrick, a preacher.
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