LOS ANGELES, (Reuters Life!) – Actor Louis Gossett Jr, best known for his Oscar-winning role as the tough drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman”, said yesterday he was fighting prostate cancer.
Gossett, 73, said his cancer was in its early stages and that he was going public to encourage African-Americans to seek early examinations and treatment for the disease.
The award-winning actor said he had begun an intensive treatment program so that he can resume his acting schedule, and work with his Eracism Foundation, as soon as possible.
“I count this diagnosis among the many challenges I have faced in my life and overcome. I expect this to be no different,” Gossett said in a statement.
The actor’s Eracism Foundation works to raise awareness of issues such as racism, ignorance and social apathy.
He said he wanted to go public “to set an example for the large number of African-American men who are victims of this disease because of the comparatively low emphasis in our community on preventive examinations and early treatment.”
