WASHINGTON D.C. – Holly wood actor Chadwick Boseman, the man famed for his role as T’Challa in Black Panther, has died.
According to a statement issued on twitter by his publicist Nicki Fioravante, actor has been battling colon cancer since 2016 and died at home with his family and wife by his side.
“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman. It was the honor of his life to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther,” the statement reads.
To the time of his death, Boseman, 43 worked on a number of films and TV shows over the last two decades, including 42 where he portrayed iconic baseball player Jackie Robinson, James Brown in Get on Up, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, but he was best known for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
By March 2018, Black Panther had become the 12th highest grossing movie of all time and the highest grossing movie of all time directed by a Black director (Ryan Coogler), according to Forbes.
Black Panther was heralded for being one of the first mainstream, big budget superhero films to have a majority Black cast, with Boseman’s performance praised by critics. Boseman was set to recap his role as King T’Challa in the Black Panther sequel, due out in 2022.
A South Carolina native, Boseman graduated in 2000 from Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, DC.
Friends, colleagues, fans of Boseman tweeted out their own tributes to the actor, sharing memories of their time together.
Notably was Senator Kamala Harris, who is also an alumna of Howard who expressed how heartbroken she was over Boseman’s death.
“My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned, and humble. He left too early but his life made a difference. Sending my sincere condolences to his family,” she tweeted.
