LOS ANGELES, March 29 — Louis Gossett Jr, the first Black man to win an Academy Award as best supporting actor, has died aged 87, a family statement confirmed on Friday without revealing the cause of death.

The Oscar-winning actor’s roles ranged from an enslaved man in the TV mini-series Roots to a no-nonsense drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentlemen. In Sadat, he had the title role, playing the Egyptian leader who made peace with Israel.