Award winning actor Lou Gossett Jr. joins Josefa for an in-depth discussion about his life, career and his new foundation…

Born May 27, 1936 in Brooklyn, NY, Lou has a flair for projecting quiet authority and has scored well personally in a string of diverse and occasionally challenging roles.

The aspiring actor caught a break at his first Broadway audition for “Take A Giant Step” (1953), where, beating out 400 other candidates, the then 16-year-old landed the lead. His acting career soon flourished and his work in the stage and film versions of the groundbreaking drama about African-American family life in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”.

This led to numerous appearances on network series culminating in 1977, when he picked up an Emmy for his eloquent portrayal of Fiddler in the landmark ABC miniseries “Roots” but the tough by-the-book drill sergeant in “An Officer and a Gentleman” (1982) won him a Best Supporting Oscar that consolidated his place in the Hollywood hierarchy.

The Eracism Foundation Inc. is a 501c3 Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation that was founded on January 5, 2006 by Oscar Winning Actor Louis Gossett Jr., who upon envisioning the organization, has committed the last quadrant of his life to an all out conscious offensive against racism, violence, and ignorance relative to the role and significance of history in positioning individuals and collective communities for the future.

Visit louisgossett.com to to learn more about Lou Gossett Jr. and the “Eracism Foundation”