Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Aaron Boseman was born in Anderson, South Carolina, in 1976. He studied directing at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and trained at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, beginning his career as a playwright, director, and television actor before his breakthrough came playing baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson in the 2013 film 42.

Boseman became Hollywood's foremost interpreter of American icons, portraying James Brown in Get on Up and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. In 2018 he starred as T'Challa in Black Panther, a cultural landmark that became one of the highest-grossing films of all time and gave millions of viewers a heroic figure of African heritage. His quiet authority and grace defined the role both on screen and off.

Unknown to the public, Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016 and continued working throughout his treatment, delivering a final, searing performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. He died in August 2020 at forty-three. Honored posthumously with a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, he is remembered for extraordinary purpose and perseverance, and for showing what heroism looks like in real life.