LOUIS GOSSETT, JR. R.I.P.
The world lost another good one last week with the passing of Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Gosset, Jr.
I didn’t know know him, but we had run into each other a few times over the years, which means even more to me now. I have only happy memories of the man, so I want to share them with you.
I first laid eyes on him in person at Doris Bergman’s very private Valentine’s Suite at Cafe La Boheme in February of 2012, where he looked happy to be meeting and greeting several of his fellow celebs.
Then, two years later, after another daytime event that we had both been at, I was sitting in an alcove off the lobby of the W Hotel in Westwood when Mr. Gossett got off the elevator. He and I were the only two people in that space, and I was thrilled that this time, he gave me a nod! And I noted to myself that he looked great!
But our most notable interaction, that I will forever remember, was exactly ten years ago, at another of Doris Bergman’s lovely Valentine’s luncheons, this time at Fig & Olive. A friend and I were sitting at a table right next to, (and sharing a banquette with,) actors Angela Bassett and her hubby, Courtney Vance. I almost dropped the candle off our small table to the floor space between us and the Vances, which made them laugh. So then we chatted for the rest of the lunch. A few minutes into our repartee, they were joined by Louis. As he sat down, he and I began talking, and kept it up way after the others left. He even remembered me from our eye contact those three weeks before. My friend and I admired his Jamaican bobsled jacket, and he admired us for knowing about those entertaining Olympic athletes!
I saw him one last time a few years later, at a daytime reception for Ava DuVernay’s powerful documentary, 13th, in a cafe in Westwood. But I was so overwhelmed by the topic of the doc that I didn’t have it in me to chat with any of the other guests. Of course, I regret that neglect now, but I was lucky to be in Louis Gosset, Jr.’s orb once again.
Louis Gosset, Jr. in the recent film, The Color Purple.
Perhaps I feel a bit extra simpatico with him because we grew up not far from each other in Brooklyn. (Lou was long gone by the time I started existing, but still…) He and my father both graduated from Lincoln High School, where my father later became the President of the Alumni Association. I learned of our connections just recently, or you can bet that we would have happily discussed it all that day we had lunch. I can imagine those two men up in heaven happily comparing Coney Island notes right now!
R.I.P., Louis Gosset, Jr. You deserve the rest after entertaining us all for so long, including just this year in The Color Purple.
