I am still trying to recover from the shocking news that the actor, Chadwick Boseman, who will probably be best remembered for playing the lead in "Black Panther", one of the most successful super-hero films of all-time, had passed away on August 28th at the young age of forty-three. The gifted actor had been privately dealing with colon cancer for the last four years yet amazingly still continued to work steadily throughout treatment. Boseman was recently seen in Spike Lee's Vietnam War drama, "Da 5 Bloods" on Netflix in June and will make his final screen appearance in an adaption of August Wilson's play, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" due out later this year on Netflix.
Born and raised in Anderson, SC, Boseman had been drawn to writing for the theater and performing since high school. He attended college at Howard University and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. One of his teachers was actress, Phylicia Rashad, who would later became a mentor to him. After he graduated, Boseman moved to Brooklyn, working a variety of jobs including an acting instructor in Harlem before deciding to try his luck in Los Angeles.
He quickly earned roles in episodes of several television series including that staple for all aspiring actors, "Law & Order". Boseman also continued to write plays during this time, with one script, "Deep Azure" was performed in Chicago. The actor's major breakthrough was playing baseball great, Jackie Robinson who broke through the color barrier in the film,"42" in 2013. Boseman's mesmerizing performance helped him capture the attention of Hollywood and he would take on the roles of two more important figures in African-American history; as the "Godfather of Soul", James Brown in the musical bio-pic, "Get On Up" and in "Marshall" where he played Thurgood Marshall, a young lawyer on his first case before he would later go on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.
But it would be Black Panther, the Marvel super-hero from the African nation of Wakanda where the actor would make the biggest impact. Boseman played the character in four feature films with his first appearance in "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016, in the two-part, "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" and with "Black Panther" in 2018. While the film was expected to do very well, "Black Panther" went way beyond anyone expectations. The film made an incredible $1.3 billion worldwide, breaking numerous box office records while becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time. "Black Panther" was also critically acclaimed with it receiving many awards including seven Academy Award nominations (which included Best Picture, a first for any comic-book movie) and would win three.
Although he did not have the opportunity to make many films, what Mr. Boseman was able to accomplish in such a short period of time is still quite impressive. He has left behind a collection of wide-ranging, important roles that displayed his strong desire to showcase and celebrate the African-American experience through fictional and non-fictional cinematic works. As a truly inspirational and brilliant performer, his passing is an incredible loss. The artistry of Chadwick Boseman will be greatly missed.
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