Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Gossett Jr.Pushed into acting as a high school student after a sports injury, Louis Gossett Jr. was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 27, 1936, and broke onto Broadway at age 16, turning down a professional contract with the New York Knicks to play the lead a few years later in "A Raisin in the Sun."

Gossett reprised the role in his film debut (1961) and found widespread acclaim the following decade with an Emmy-winning role in the epic television miniseries Roots (1977) and an Emmy-nominated performance in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979). But he is most often linked with his powerful portrayal of a hard-nosed drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), a performance that earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Career highlights since then include a pair of Emmy-nominated performances in the miniseries Sadat (1983) and A Gathering of Old Men (1987).

Featured Movies
  • Left Behind: World at WarLeft Behind: World at War

    In the wake of a global catastrophe that saw millions of people vanish from Earth, a man named Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie) steps forward to provide leadership via his New World Government, supported by U.S. President Fitzhugh (Louis Gossett Jr.). But others -- mostly born-again Christians --... Read More

  • Iron EagleIron Eagle

    After his father's F-16 is shot down over the Middle East, heavy metal-loving teenager Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) goes to the government for help rescuing him. When the feds fail to get the boy's father out, he turns to salty Air Force Col. Charles Sinclair (Louis Gossett Jr.). Together, the two... Read More

  • In His Father's ShoesIn His Father's Shoes

    Clay Crosby (Robert Ri'chard) never got to know his father before he passed away, and this left a hole in him. At age 15, Clay stumbles across a pair of shoes and puts them on, only to be taken back in time to when his father was a teenager; as soon as he takes the shoes off, he returns to his own... Read More

  • Iron Eagle IIIron Eagle II

    Sidney J. Furie's 1988 action-thriller stars Louis Gossett Jr. as Gen. Charles Sinclair (aka Chappy), who returns to the battlefield to lead a troupe made up of American and Russian soldiers on a mission to strike a weapons site in the Middle East. Trying to elicit cooperation between former enemies... Read More

  • High LonesomeHigh Lonesome

    A 10-year-old sharecropper's son named Charlie (Joseph Mazzello) is orphaned when his abusive father dies during a fire. But he soon finds comfort from a kindly farmer named Walter Osgood (Louis Gossett Jr.). Unfortunately, the man is black, the boy is white and it's the rural South. Not... Read More

All Louis Gossett Jr. Movies
Smitty (2012)
PG
The Lamp (2011)
NR
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010)
PG-13
The Grace Card (2010)
PG-13
Dog Jack (2010)
PG-13
The Least Among You (2009)
PG-13
The Perfect Game (2009)
PG
Buttermilk Sky (2009)
NR
Let Freedom Sing (2009)
NR
Daddy's Little Girls (2007)
Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls
PG-13
Cover (2007)
PG-13
African Footprint (2007)
(Bonus materials available separately)
NR
All In (2006)
PG-13
Left Behind: World at War (2005)
PG-13
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
PG-13
Solar Attack (2005)
PG
Momentum (2003)
R
Jasper, Texas (2003)
R
River Niger / Christie / Johnny / Cocoa (2003)
R
What About Your Friends: Weekend Get-Away (2002)
NR
Brilliant But Cancelled: Crime Dramas (2002)
NR
Deceived (2002)
NR
Terminal Countdown (2001)
R
Love Songs (1999)
NR
The Highwayman (1999)
R
In His Father's Shoes (1997)
PG
The Wall That Heals (1997)
NR
Bram Stoker's The Mummy (1997)
Legend of the Mummy
R
Small Steps, Big Strides (1997)
NR
Inside (1996)
R
Iron Eagle 4: On the Attack (1995)
PG-13
Curse of the Starving Class (1994)
NR
High Lonesome (1994)
A Father for Charlie
NR
Return to Lonesome Dove (1993)
NR
Dangerous Relations (1993)
On the Streets of L.A.
PG-13
Flashfire (1993)
R
On the Streets of L.A. (1993)
NR
Iron Eagle 3: Aces (1992)
R
Diggstown (1992)
Midnight Sting
R
The Mad About You Collection (1992)
NR
Carolina Skeletons (1992)
NR
The Josephine Baker Story (1991)
R
Toy Soldiers (1991)
R
El Diablo (1990)
PG-13
Cover Up (1990)
R
Sudie and Simpson (1990)
NR
Punisher (1989)
R
Iron Eagle II (1988)
Iron Eagle II: The Battle Beyond the Flag / Iron Eagle 2
PG
The Principal (1987)
R
A Gathering of Old Men (1987)
PG
Iron Eagle (1986)
PG-13
Firewalker (1986)
PG
Enemy Mine (1985)
PG-13
Jaws 3 (1983)
PG
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
R
Backstairs at the White House (1979)
NR
The Deep (1977)
PG
Roots (1977)
NR
Broadway Theatre Archive: Freeman (1977)
NR
Little Ladies of the Night (1977)
NR
J.D.'s Revenge (1976)
R
The White Dawn (1974)
PG
The Laughing Policeman (1974)
R
It's Good to Be Alive (1974)
NR
The Rookies: Season 1 (1972)
NR
The Landlord (1970)
R
Leo the Last (1970)
R
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
UR

 
Questions? 1-877-742-1480
24 hours a day
Cancel online anytime


Start Your 1 Month Free Trial
Email
Confirm Email
Password
Confirm Password
 Secure Server
We will not sell or rent your email address. We may contact you about the Netflix service. See our privacy notice.