Louis Gossett Jr's cause of death revealed: Oscar-winning actor died from ... trends now

Louis Gossett Jr died from a chronic lung condition aged 87 last month. 

Oscar-winner Gossett Jr., known for his performances in An Officer And A Gentleman and Jaws III, died in Santa Monica, California on March 29. No cause of death was given at the time. however, he had previously announced in 2010 that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

His death certificate obtained by TMZ cites chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as the main cause of death. 

It also notes heart failure and atrial fibrillation as contributing conditions. The certificate further notes the actor had been battling COPD for years. 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) describes a group of lung conditions that cause the airways to narrow and become inflamed.

Examples include bronchitis, which affects the airways, and emphysema, which impacts the air sacs.

This makes it harder to move air in and out as you breathe.

In a January interview with People, Gossett Jr. reflected on his mortality, saying: 'I’m not afraid to die and the fact of going to heaven. I know they are having some great concerts up there."

'I know that and my heroes and heroines are up there and I think it's different from what we think it is and the old days," he added. "I think after we make that transition, I think it's going to be a great time.'

Known for his decades-long career with further appearances in The Color Purple and Roots, Gossett revealed this past year that he gave up a potential professional basketball career with the New York Knicks when he decided to head to Hollywood.   

He earned his first acting credit in his Brooklyn high school's production of You Can't Take It with You while he was sidelined from the basketball team with an injury.

'I was hooked — and so was my audience,' he wrote in his 2010 memoir An Actor And A Gentleman.

Known for his athletic build and dominating presence on stage and screen, Gossett Jr starred in a number of demanding roles including his Oscar-winning turn as drill sergeant Emil Foley in Officer And A Gentleman in 1982.  

The hard-man image he achieved in that role catapulted him to Hollywood fame, emulating the drill sergeant patois in 1989's The Punisher and repeat appearances in the Iron Eagle franchise. 

After his early Broadway success, he broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery on TV. The sprawling cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos.

He won an Emmy for the role, which earned the young actor national fame as a staggering 100million viewers tuned in for the final episode. 

Gossett once said of landing the role: 'All the top African-American actors were asked, and I begged to be in there. I got the best role, I think. It was wonderful.'  

His final on-screen appearance came in the 2023 Oscar-nominated film The Color Purple. According to his IMDB, the actor had 12 upcoming projects in the works at the time of his death, including Ryan Reynolds' upcoming animation IF. 

Gossett Jr's decades-long acting career quickly took off after his first performance in high school, as an English teacher urged him to go into Manhattan to try out for the production of Take a Giant Step. 

He got the part and debuted on Broadway in 1953 aged 16. 

'I knew too little to be nervous,' Gossett wrote of his acting break. 'In retrospect, I should have been scared to death as I walked onto that stage, but I wasn't.'