When you think of Chadwick Boseman, you think of Black Panther, the all powerful African Prince turned superhero and you only think of the picture of health. In fact, if you had told me last week that Chadwick Bozeman was going to die I would have laughed in your face, but that was because we didn’t know how much of a superhero he truly was.
Chadwick had gotten diagnosed with stage III Colon Cancer, but that did not slow him down. Not for one moment did he let that stop his career. Throughout chemo and surgeries, he managed to make movies like Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, which is an adaptation on a stage play by August Wilson.
Chadwick Bozeman, dead at 43
Bozeman will be sorely missed, of his loss, Disney Chairman Bob Iger said, “We are all heartbroken by the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman — an extraordinary talent, and one of the most gentle and giving souls I have ever met.
He brought enormous strength, dignity and depth to his groundbreaking role of Black Panther; shattering myths and stereotypes, becoming a long-awaited hero to millions around the world, and inspiring us all to dream bigger and demand more than the status quo.
We mourn all that he was, as well as everything he was destined to become. For his friends and millions of fans, his absence from the screen is only eclipsed by his absence from our lives. All of us at Disney send our prayers and heartfelt condolences to his family.”
His Marvel family is heartbroken as well, Kevin Fiege, president of Marvel Studios said, “Chadwick’s passing is absolutely devastating. He was our T’Challa, our Black Panther, and our dear friend. Each time he stepped on set, he radiated charisma and joy, and each time he appeared on screen, he created something truly indelible.
He embodied a lot of amazing people in his work, and nobody was better at bringing great men to life. He was as smart and kind and powerful and strong as any person he portrayed. Now he takes his place alongside them as an icon for the ages. The Marvel Studios family deeply mourns his loss, and we are grieving tonight with his family.”
Chadwick worked through most of his career with this diagnosis, but never spoke about it publicly. See? Superhero. No one could have played a better Black Panther. He knew the classic superhero struggle, having to deal with pain privately that no one knew about, while simultaneously putting on a show for other people.
Of his early life, he first turned his life to showbiz back in high school when he wrote a play about the shooting death of a basketball teammate. He went on to Howard University where he was mentored by Phylicia Rashad.
From there he moved to New York where he became part of the theatre scene, but his big break came when he was cast in “42”, as Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play major league baseball.
Ironically, the date of his death fell on Jackie Robinson day. We will all miss the flashy, relatively new superhero that came on the scene in 2014 as part of Captain America: Civil War, the superhero that offered a new narrative for Marvel and who blew away the old Hollywood rumor that movies with all black casts don’t do well in foriegn markets.
Black Panther ended up grossing 1.3 billion worldwide – take that, old school racism! Chadwick was not with us long, but for the time he was here, he definitely made an impact.
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