Lou Gossett Jr Net Worth – 2023

How much is Lou Gossett Jr. Net worth?

American actor Lou Gossett, Jr. has an estimated net worth of $5 million. He is the recipient of two Golden Globes, a Primetime Emmy, a Daytime Emmy, and an Academy Award. In the 1982 film “An Officer and a Gentleman,” Lou Gossett Jr.’s portrayal as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley earned him an Academy Award. His role as Fiddler in the television miniseries “Roots,” for which he won an Emmy Award, is likewise highly praised. Other films to which Gossett has contributed include “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The White Dawn,” “The Punisher,” and the “Iron Eagle” series.

Childhood and Education

Louis Gossett Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on May 27, 1936 to Louis Sr., a porter, and Hellen, a nurse. He attended Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Abraham Lincoln High School as a child. Gossett made his theatrical debut in a school production of “You Can’t Take It with You.” While still in high school, he stood in for Bill Gunn in the Broadway play “Take a Giant Step.” Gossett pursued his higher study at New York University. He turned down an athletic scholarship to play varsity basketball at NYU in order to focus on acting.

Film Profession, Part 1

Gossett made his film debut in 1961 as George Murchison in the adaption of “A Raisin in the Sun”; he had performed in the Broadway version two years before. The following film he starred in was “The Bushbabies” in 1969. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, Gossett appeared in a variety of films, including “The Landlord,” “Skin Game,” “Travels with My Aunt,” “The Laughing Policeman,” “The White Dawn,” “The River Niger,” “J.D.’s Revenge,” “The Deep,” and “The Choirboys.” In the 1980 comedy “It Rained All Night the Day I Left,” he featured with Tony Curtis and Sally Kellerman.

In the romance drama “An Officer and a Gentleman” starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, in 1982, Gossett made his most renowned performance. He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley, making him the first black actor to win in that category. Gossett subsequently appeared in “Jaws 3-D,” “Finders Keepers,” and “Enemy Mine.” In the 1986 action picture “Iron Eagle,” he portrayed another military guy, Colonel Charles Sinclair; he would reprise this character in the three sequels. In the 1980s, Gossett also appeared in “Firewalker,” “The Principal,” and the comic book adaption “The Punisher.”

Filmography, Part Two

In the early 1990s, Gossett starred in the political thriller “Cover Up” and the action flick “Toy Soldiers.” He then directed the boxing comedy “Diggstown,” the criminal thriller “Flashfire,” the basketball drama “Blue Chips,” the literary adaption “A Good Man in Africa,” and the eponymous play-based drama “Curse of the Starving Class.” Gossett narrated the documentary “The Wall That Heals” and starred in “Bram Stoker’s Legend of the Mummy” during the latter half of the decade.

Gossett acted in films such as “Left Behind: World at War,” “Daddy’s Little Girls,” “Cover,” “The Perfect Game,” “Shannon’s Rainbow,” and “The Least Among You” during the 2000s. In the 2010s, he appeared in “Smitty,” “Why Did I Get Married Too?” by Tyler Perry, “The Grace Card,” “A Fighting Man,” “Undercover Grandpa,” and “Supervized.” “Boiling Pot,” in which he plays a detective investigating a racially motivated murder, and “The Cuban,” in which he portrays a former Cuban jazz artist with dementia, are two of Gossett’s most prominent latter roles.

Television Profession, Part 1

The first time Gossett appeared on television was in a 1958 episode of the crime thriller “The Big Story.” He subsequently starred in episodes of various more television series, including “The Nurses,” “Cowboy in Africa,” “The Invaders,” and “The Mod Squad,” as well as the television movie “Companions in Nightmare.” Gossett’s first starring role was in the 1970-to-early-1971 short-lived adventure series “The Young Rebels.” Subsequently, he featured in several episodes of “The Partridge Family,” “Bonanza,” “Cade’s County,” “Insight,” “The Rookies,” “Petrocelli,” “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons,” “Police Story,” and “The Rockford Files,” among others. The role of Fiddler in the landmark ABC miniseries “Roots” brought Gossett his biggest fame to date in 1977. His act earned him an Emmy Award.

Gossett followed the triumph of “Roots” with several additional notable performances. In 1979, he was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the NBC miniseries “Backstairs at the White House.” Additionally, Gossett appeared in the television movies “Lawman Without a Gun,” “The Lazarus Syndrome,” and “Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige.” He appeared in the science-fiction series “The Powers of Matthew Star” from 1982 to 1983. During this period, Gossett played the titular Egyptian president in the television film Sadat and was nominated for an Emmy. His efforts in the television films “The Guardian,” “A Gathering of Old Men,” and “The Father Clements Story” earned him more acclaim.

Career in Television, Part 2

In 1989, Gossett portrayed the title role in the ABC sitcom “Gideon Oliver,” which lasted only one season. Next, he appeared in a series of television movies, such as “El Diablo,” “Sudie and Simpson,” “The Josephine Baker Story,” “Carolina Skeletons,” “Keeper of the City,” “Captive Heart: The James Mink Story,” “Inside,” and “Strange Justice.” Gossett was also nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearance on “Touché par un Angel” and won a Daytime Emmy for the children’s television feature “In His Father’s Shoes.”

In the 2000s, Gossett continued his successful television career. In the early 2000s, he starred in the television movies “The Color of Love: Jacey’s Story,” “Jasper, Texas,” and “Momentum.” He portrayed Gerak in five episodes of the military science-fiction series “Stargate SG-1” from 2005 to 2006. Gossett has been in episodes of “ER,” “Psych,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Extant,” “The Good Fight,” “Hap and Leonard,” and “Hawaii Five-0” in recent years. In 2019, he was nominated for an Emmy for his performance as Will Reeves and his alter ego Hooded Justice in the short series “Watchmen.”

Personal Life

Gossett married his first wife, Hattie Glascoe, in 1967; the union was dissolved the following year. In 1973, he married Christina Mangosing, with whom he had a son called Satie. The couple separated in 1975. In 1987, Gossett wed his third wife, Cyndi James-Reese; they adopted a son called Sharron and separated in 1992.

Real Estate

Lou sold a 2,800-square-foot home in Malibu for $3.25 million in September 2018.