Louis Gossett Jr. has early stage prostate cancer

(HMG) – Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. says he is being treated for prostate cancer and ready to beat it!  Gossett, 74, 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.

“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.

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.”

Gossett’s portrayal of Fiddler in the ABC miniseries “Roots” won him an Emmy award in 1977. He also won a supporting actor Oscar for for his Oscar-winning role as the tough drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman”, has a memoir “An Actor and A Gentleman” due to be published in May and he is currently promoting a PBS documentary that he executive produced called “For Love Of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots” to be shown later in February.

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