He brought life, and identity to the African community with his tremendous display of impeccable acting and carefully portraying the message of the African populace in his role as ‘Black Panther.’ Chadwick Boseman was a superhero the entire Black community will forever hold on to.
Chadwick Aaron Boseman born on November 29, 1976, was raised in Anderson, South Carolina to African American parents. His mother was a nurse and father worked at a textile factory, managing an upholstery business. DNA testing indicates his ancestors were Krio and Limba people from Sierra Leone and Yoruba people from Nigeria.
Boseman graduated in 2000 from Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, DC. While there, he also attended the British American Drama Academy at Oxford in 1998. His dream was to be a writer and director, but later studied acting as well, in order to better relate to his actors. Chadwick went into full time acting in 2008 when he moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
He has portrayed several real-life historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017), Black Panther (2018), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Boseman got his first television role in 2003, in an episode of Third Watch and since then, went on to play in many roles both on television and in movies.
His first starring role was in the 2013 film 42, in which he portrayed baseball pioneer and star, Jackie Robinson. He had been directing an off-Broadway play in East Village when he auditioned for the role and was considering giving up acting and pursuing directing full-time at the time.
The director, Brian Helgeland liked Boseman’s bravery and cast him after he had auditioned twice. In 2014, Chadwick was cast opposite Kevin Costner in Draft Day, in which he played an NFL draft prospect.In that same year, he starred as James Brown in Get on Up.
In 2016, he starred as Thoth, in Gods of Egypt and also as T’Challa / Black Panther, with Captain America: Civil War being his first film in a five-picture deal with Marvel. He later went on to headline his own marvel movie, the ‘Black Panther.’
He replayed this role in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The movies were released in 2018 and 2019, respectively and both went on to be the highest grossing films of the year with Endgame going on to become the highest-grossing film of all time.
He was most popular for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Black Panther, for which he won the NAACP Image Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for this movie. He also won the MTV Movie & TV Awards for the ‘Best Hero’ and ‘Best Performance in a Movie’ with Black Panther.
Chadwick played the role of T’Challa, who was the Black Panther and focused on his character and his home country of Wakanda in Africa. Marvel Studios president had previously announced the second movie of the “Black Panther” saga would debut in theatres in May 2022.
Chadwick a vegetarian by nature, got engaged to singer Taylor Simone Ledward in 2019 and they later married.
Chadwick according to sources, battled colon cancer since 2016 when he was diagnosed at stage III. Even through his battle with the disease, Boseman never made a public statement about it, but only went on to work hard and produce his best movies yet.
Chadwick Boseman is said to have died at home on the 28th of August, 2020 from complications of colon cancer. Many have called him a real-life super-hero for living through and giving off his best even in the most trying times of his life.
In announcing his passing, his family in a statement on social media said:
“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman. Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV. A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honour of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther. He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side. The family thanks you for your love and prayers, and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.”
Chadwick Boseman, ‘The Black Panther’ lives on forever.
