Louis Gossett, Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an Academy Award winning American actor. He was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where he was class president and an academic and athletic achiever. A sports injury left him with no choice but to take an acting class, and at 16 he made his stage debut in the school's production of You Can't Take It With You. After high school, he attended New York University, where he was a star basketball player.
