‘Black Panther’ Star Chadwick Boseman Dies Of Cancer At Age 43
Actor Chadwick Boseman, who starred in Black Panther, has died at the age of 43. A statement posted on Boseman’s Twitter account on Friday said the actor had battled colon cancer for the last four years. The statement said “he died in his home, with his wife and family by his side.”
“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” the statement said. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods … all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.”
Actor Chadwick Boseman in 2017.
CREDIT: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Boseman was born in South Carolina and is a graduate of Howard University. Throughout his career, he was known for his portrayals of iconic historical Black figures such as Jackie Robinson in 42 and James Brown in Get on Up.
In his role as the Marvel Studios superhero Black Panther and his alias, king T’Challa of Wakanda, Boseman became the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first film headlined by a Black actor. He won praise for his first appearance as the Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, garnering excitement for his feature film. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther would go on to break several box office records and become the first superhero film to be nominated for the Academy Award for best picture. The film earned six other nominations and won three, becoming the MCU’s first Oscar-winning film.
He went on to portray the character in two more Marvel films, fighting alongside the eponymous heroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Black Panther, which starred a predominantly Black cast, was lauded for its Black representation in the 2019 awards season. In his speech at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where the cast won the award for Outstanding Cast In A Motion Picture, Boseman addressed the cultural impact of the film.
“To be young, gifted and black, we all know what it’s like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured. Yet you are young, gifted and black. We know what it’s like to be told that there is not a screen for you to be featured on, a stage for you to be featured on. We know what it’s like to be the tail and not the head. We know what it’s like to be beneath and not above.”
“And that is what we went to work with every day because we knew not that we would be around during award season or that it would make a billion dollars, but we knew we had something special that we wanted to give the world,” Boseman added. “That we could be full human beings in the roles that we were playing, that we could create a world that exemplified a world that we wanted to see.”
— Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) August 29, 2020
Boseman graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a Bachelor degree in directing in 2000. Months after the release of Black Panther, the actor addressed students at the university’s commencement. After a year marked by protests over a financial aid scandal, campus housing, and tuition increases, Boseman praised the university’s student activists, telling them that “everything that you fought for was not for yourself, it was for those who came after you.”
“Savor the taste of your triumphs today,” Boseman told the graduates. “Don’t just swallow the moment whole without digesting what is actually happening here. Look down over what you conquered and appreciate what God has brought you through.”
Boseman was awarded an honorary doctorate at the ceremony, where Wayne A. I. Frederick, the university’s president, called him “a shining exemplar of our cherished core values of leadership, excellence, truth and service.”
Across social media, fans, celebrities and public officials expressed their sympathies and reactions.
On Twitter, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for president and vice president, expressed their condolences.
“He left too early but his life made a difference,” Harris wrote.
Biden praised Boseman’s portrayals of the Black Panther and Jackie Robinson, saying that the actor “inspired generations and showed them they can be anything they want – even super heroes.”
Many of Boseman’s Marvel costars publicly mourned their friend. “All I have to say All I have to say is the tragedies amassing this year have only been made more profound by the loss of #ChadwickBoseman,” Mark Ruffalo, who portrayed the Hulk and Dr. Bruce Banner, wrote.
Captain America’s Chris Evans called Boseman “a true original” and a “deeply committed and constantly curious artist.”
Captain Marvel star Brie Larson said Boseman was someone who “radiated power and peace.” Larson portrayed Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel, in the MCU’s first film headlined by a woman. The newly introduced Captain Marvel and Black Panther were set to lead the next phase of Marvel films following Avengers: Endgame.
Don Cheadle, who portrayed War Machine in the Iron Man films, said Boseman was always “light and love” to him.
Angela Bassett, Boseman’s onscreen mother in Black Panther, reminisced about the day when she received an honorary degree from Howard University. Boseman was still a student then, and was assigned to escort her that day. Years later, she wrote that they would spend “weeks prepping, working, sitting next to each other every morning in makeup chairs, preparing for the day together as mother and son.”
“I am honored that we enjoyed that full circle experience,” Bassett added. “This young man’s dedication was awe-inspiring, his smile contagious, his talent unreal. So I pay tribute to a beautiful spirit, a consummate artist, a soulful brother.”
