Chadwick Boseman, the African American star who became an icon by playing one of the most famous black heroes in recent years, has passed away, it has been announced. He had been suffering from colon cancer for the past four years, but had kept it secret even while filming his final roles, which makes his death all the more shocking to his fans. After studying at Oxford University, he planned to be a writer and director, but it was as an actor he established himself, first on television and then, with the lead in baseball's Jackie Robinson biopic 42, in the movies.
The lead in the James Brown biopic Get On Up followed, and it was clear a major new talent had arrived, as he took the role of Marvel's Black Panther, first in Captain America: Civil War and then headlining his own Black Panther movie; he would continue the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which would be the last time he would be seen as his most famous character. After that, he produced his own thriller vehicle 21 Bridges and appeared in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods. He has one more film to be released, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Boseman was everything you would want in a movie star: talented, inspirational and charismatic, and his early loss will be felt for some time, especially as he had the potential for so much more to do.
