Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Aaron Boseman (November 29, 1976–August 28, 2020) was an American actor whose screen work included portrayals of Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, and Marvel's King T'Challa. Born in Anderson, South Carolina, he studied directing at Howard University, graduating in 2000. A fellowship supported his study at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford; his mentor and future benefactor, Phylicia Rashad, later helped fund the program. Boseman initially worked in theater, writing and directing plays, before taking television roles on series including Lincoln Heights, Persons Unknown, and The Glades.

His breakthrough film role came in 42 (2013), Brian Helgeland's baseball drama about Robinson's 1947 integration of Major League Baseball. Boseman played Robinson opposite Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey. He next starred as musician James Brown in Get on Up (2014), a performance that required extensive dance work and lip-syncing to Brown's recordings. In 2017's Marshall, he portrayed the young NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall during the Connecticut rape trial depicted in the film.

In 2016, Boseman first appeared as T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War. The character, ruler and protector of the fictional African nation Wakanda, became central to Black Panther (2018), directed by Ryan Coogler. The film was the first Marvel Studios production centered on a Black superhero, and it received seven Academy Award nominations, winning three: costume design, production design, and original score. Boseman reprised T'Challa in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

His later films included 21 Bridges (2019), in which he played an NYPD detective, and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (2020), where he appeared as the fallen squad leader Norman Earl Holloway. His final completed performance was as trumpeter Levee Green in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020), George C. Wolfe's adaptation of August Wilson's play. The role earned him a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, plus a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.

Boseman had been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, according to a statement issued after his death. The disease progressed to stage IV, yet he continued working through surgery and chemotherapy while making several major films. He died at his home in Los Angeles at age 43, with his wife Taylor Simone Ledward and family beside him. In 2021, Marvel retired the character rather than recast him for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, incorporating T'Challa's death into its story and memorializing Boseman.