Chadwick Boseman

Boseman was married to Taylor Simone Ledward before his death. They became engaged in October 2019, and he married Ledward before August 2020.

Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and the disease later progressed to stage IV. He continued acting during treatment, including in Black Panther, Da 5 Bloods, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He died of colon cancer in Los Angeles on August 28, 2020, at the age of 43.

After graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing in 2000, Boseman studied acting at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. He moved to Brooklyn, studied at the Digital Film Academy in Manhattan, and supported himself by teaching acting at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

Boseman wrote, directed, and acted in theatre. His plays included Rhyme Deferred, Hieroglyphic Graffiti, and Deep Azure, which was commissioned by Chicago’s Congo Square Theatre Company. He won an AUDELCO award for his performance in Urban Transitions: Loose Blossoms in 2002. His television work included guest appearances on Third Watch, Law & Order, CSI: NY, and ER, as well as a recurring role as Nathaniel Ray on Lincoln Heights.

Boseman made his film debut in The Express in 2008 and later starred in The Kill Hole in 2012. His breakthrough came with 42 in 2013, in which he portrayed baseball player Jackie Robinson. The performance drew praise for its restraint and athleticism, and Boseman was named Male Star of Tomorrow by the National Association of Theater Owners in 2014.

He played football prospect Vontae Mack in Draft Day and portrayed musician James Brown in Get On Up, both released in 2014. His performance as Brown was widely praised. In Marshall (2017), Boseman played a young Thurgood Marshall during an early case in the future Supreme Court justice’s legal career.

Boseman first played T’Challa, the king of Wakanda who became Black Panther, in Captain America: Civil War (2016). He reprised the role in Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Black Panther became a cultural phenomenon and was notable for its predominantly Black cast, while T’Challa became one of Boseman’s defining roles.

Boseman also starred as an NYPD detective in 21 Bridges (2019) and played Stormin’ Norman in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2020). His final film role was Levee Green, a trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), based on August Wilson’s play. The performance earned him a posthumous Academy Award nomination and posthumous Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards.