The unexpected news of Chadwick Boseman’s death from colon cancer at age 43 sent shockwaves through Hollywood and beyond. An incredible talent and life cut short, we look back at the highlights of his career.
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Boseman got his first acting credit in 1970 at the age of 7 with an appearance on “All My Children”. Following a lengthy break, he turned to acting full-time in the early 2000s with guest roles on shows including “Law & Order”, “CSI: NY”, “ER”, “Lie To Me”, “Fringe”, “Castle” and “Cold Case”, among others. His first recurring roles were on the series’ “Lincoln Heights” and “Persons Unknown” between 2008 and 2010.
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Boseman wasn’t just talented in front of the camera, he was also a gifted writer and playwright. His 2006 play "Deep Azure" was performed in Chicago and nominated for a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work.
After graduating with a degree in Fine Arts in Directing from Howard University in the late 1990s, he attended the prestigious summer theatre program at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. A group of theatre students from Howard had been accepted to the program but couldn’t afford to attend so one of their teachers, "Cosby Show" star Phylicia Rashad, asked her celebrity friends to help. Denzel Washington ended up sponsoring Boseman, which the “Black Panther” star revealed for this first time in 2018. Shortly after his admission, Boseman met Washington for the first time.
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In 2003, Boseman was cast as Reggie Montgomery on the long-running soap opera “All My Children”. The actor claims he was then fired after expressing concerns to producers about the racial stereotypes in the script. The role was eventually recast with his future “Black Panther” co-star Michael B. Jordan.
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Boseman experienced his big breakthrough with his first starring role, in the 2013 biopic “42”. At the time he auditioned for the film, which chronicled Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era, Boseman had been directing an Off-Broadway play and had been considering giving up acting to be a full-time director. We’re all grateful he auditioned for Robinson, setting off an all-too-short acting career. Boseman secured a number of acting nominations for the performance, including Outstanding Actor from the NAACP Image Awards.
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Following “42”, Boseman was once again front and centre in another sports drama, this time as an NFL prospect in “Draft Day”, opposite Kevin Costner. Unsure of whether he wanted to play another athlete, director Ivan Reitman was able to convince the actor to take the role over a Skype call.
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The James Brown musical biopic “Get On Up” gave Boseman the chance to transform into the Godfather of Soul. Starring opposite Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Dan Aykroyd, the nonlinear narrative showcased Boseman’s dancing skills and some of his singing ability, and was met with positive reviews, particularly for his performance as Brown.
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In 2016, Boseman made his big screen debut as T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, in “Captain America: Civil War”. The movie was the first in a five-picture deal with Marvel and one of the first projects Boseman didn’t have to audition for. Developing the Wakandan accent himself, Boseman’s small appearance offered just a taste of what was to come in the MCU.
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Boseman once again dipped his toes into history by playing Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in the biographical drama “Marshall”. A courtroom drama, the film focuses on Marshall’s 1940 legal defense case in which a Black chauffeur was accused of raping his white employer.
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Wakanda forever! The cultural impact of Boseman and “Black Panther” cannot be understated. The record-breaking movie became the highest-grossing movie by a Black director and the first superhero film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Visiting South Africa twice for research, Boseman’s performance as the anti-war hero garnered high praise in a movie lauded for its acting, directing, special effects and storytelling.
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Boseman participated in Marvel Studio’s children’s charity efforts and donated $10,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of America to help pay for youths in Harlem to go see “Black Panther”. During “Black Panther” filming, Boseman was in contact with two young boys battling cancer who have since passed away, becoming emotional as he described their conversations and excitement for “Black Panther”. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Boseman was living with stage three colon cancer at the time.
Outside of MCU initiatives, the actor was a staunch supporter of Black Lives Matter. Boseman recently added his signature to an open letter demanding Hollywood support Black professionals at studios, agencies and more.
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Boseman once again picked up his Wakandan crown for the next two chapters in the “Avengers” story. Sadly, his appearances would be the last as T’Challa. A sequel to “Black Panther” had been announced for 2022 but is now understandably on hold following the actor’s death.
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In what would be the final film released theatrically in his lifetime, Boseman starred opposite Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James in the crime thriller “21 Bridges”. The film was released in November 2019.
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Boseman made his final public appearances before the pandemic shutdown, attending NBA All-Star weekend in February.
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Initially set for a premiere at Cannes before bowing on Netflix in June 2020, Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” is one of Boseman’s final performances. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Paul Walter Hauser and Jean Reno, the film follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of their fallen squad leader, with Boseman’s character the main focus of flashback sequences. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, earning it a 92 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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At the time of his death, Boseman had one film completed and awaiting release. Based on a play by August Wilson, the story takes place over the course of an afternoon recording session with Blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis). Boseman has second billing as ambitious trumpet player Levee, a man keen to ruffle feathers and stake his own claim in the music industry. With filming completed last summer, the movie is currently slated for a yet-unannounced release later this year.
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Just days before his untimely death, it was announced that Boseman would team up with Seth MacFarlane for the limited series “Little Rock Nine” about the group of Black schoolgirls who enrolled in an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas after segregation was declared unconstitutional in 1954. Boseman was also set to executive produce the series.
In addition, Boseman was expected to voice T’Challa in the animated Disney+ series “What If…?”.
The actor had also been tapped to lead the adventure film “Yasuke”, the true story of the only-known samurai of African origin who becomes entrenched in a struggle for control in 16th-century feudal Japan. The film is currently in the pre-production stage.