Award-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, has died at the age of 87.

Gossett appeared in more than 110 television shows and 68 films over a seven decade Hollywood career. He won a 1977 Emmy Award for his role in ABC's groundbreaking TV miniseries Roots.

Other television shows Gossett appeared in include The Mod Squad, The Partridge Family, The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, The Josephine Baker Story, Touched By An Angel and The Book of Negroes. In 2020, Gossett’s appearance in HBO’s drama series Watchmen earned him the last of his eight Emmy nominations. 

On the big screen, Gossett in 1983 received an Oscar for his role as a no-nonsense Marine drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman, which starred Richard Gere. Most recently Gossett appeared in the 2023 film The Color Purple.

Celebrities such as Colman Domingo, Stephanie Mills and Sheryl Lee Ralph took to social media in tribute to Gossett. Actor James Woods, who starred with Gossett in the 1992 film Diggstown, called Gossett “a true gentleman.” 

OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network will take a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming The Color Purple film in a new special set to debut December 8.

The one-hour OWN special, OWN Celebrates The New Color Purple, features network founder Oprah Winfrey as she interviews the movie’s leading actors, including Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, H.E.R. and Fantasia Barrino, regarding their roles in the reimagining of the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced film, according to the network. 

Winfrey, who serves as executive producer for the film, also talks about her role in the original movie, which earned her a 1985 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – one of 11 nominations for The Color Purple.

The Warner Bros.-distributed The Color Purple movie, based on the Alice Walker novel of the same name, debuts in movie theaters on Christmas.

National Geographic's Academy Award-winning documentary series Free Solo is currently streaming on Hulu, the streaming service said Wednesday.

Free Solo, which won the 2019 Academy Award for best documentary feature, follows soloist climber Alex Honnold who climbed El Capitan --the 3,200-foot peak in Yosemite National Park -- without a rope.

 The documentary brought in nearly 1.5 million viewers domestically during its commercial-free broadcast debut on March 3, according to Nielsen Live+3 ratings.

“Free Solo is a true masterpiece that combines awe-inspiring camerawork with the kind of authentic storytelling that Hulu viewers love,” said Lisa Holme, vice president of Content Acquisition at Hulu in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with our friends at National Geographic Documentary Films to add this extraordinary film to the growing slate of award-winning documentaries available on Hulu.”

A number of Academy Award-winning movies will make their on demand premieres in March, according to In Demand.

Universal’s Green Book, which took home the coveted Oscar for best picture, will debut on most MVPD lineups on March 12, according to the on demand distributor.

Sony Pictures’ action movie Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse -- which debuts via on demand March 19 -- was the big Academy Award winner in the best animated feature category.

If Beale Street Could Talk also won an Academy Award as Regina King won the best supporting actress statuette for her role as Sharon Rivers in the film. The movie debuts March 26 via on demand.

Other major studio films making their on demand debuts in March include:

Creed II -- PG (MGM/Fox) March 5

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald -- PG-13 (Warner Bros.) March 12

Mary Poppins Returns --PG (Disney) March 19

Aquman -- PG-13 (Warner Bros.) March 26

Second Act -- PG-13 (STX) March 26

National Geographic Channel will air Oscar-winning documentary film Free Solo on Sunday, March 3, at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. central time) commercial free, followed by a global rollout across 172 countries and 43 languages, the programmer said.

Directed by documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin (who directed the Oscar-shortlisted film Meru), Free Solo is "a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock ... the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park ... without a rope," per Nat Geo.

Both a thriller and an inspiring story about an athlete's quest to triumph over the impossible, Free Solo posted the highest per screen average of any documentary during its opening weekend (Sept. 28, 2018) and the highest box office for a documentary in its 19th weekend in release, according to the programmer. Now, as it enters its 20th week in release, the National Geographic Documentary Films offering also won a BAFTA award for best documentary in addition to Critics Choice and Cinema Eye awards, among several other industry recognitions.

“When we were making this film, we could not have imagined the response we have received,” directors Vasarhelyi and Chin said in a release. “While most of us wouldn’t dream of free-soloing 3,000 feet, Alex’s story of courage, dedication and determination is very relatable. We’re grateful to be working with National Geographic and Fox Home Entertainment, and thrilled that Alex’s journey will continue to inspire others to dare to dream.” National Geographic Documentary Films and Nat Geo Channel are in the National Geographic Partners joint venture of National Geographic and 21st Century Fox.

Pictured: Alex Honnold climbs through the enduro corner on El Capitan's Freerider. (National Geographic/Jimmy Chin).

Grammy Award-winning R&B singer and Academy Award-nominated actress Mary J. Blige has signed on to appear in Netflix’s new live-action series The Umbrella Academy, the network said Monday (Feb. 12).

The series, based on the popular comics and graphic novels of the same name, follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes who come together to solve their father’s mysterious death. Blige plays Cha-Cha, an unorthodox assassin who travels through time to kill assigned targets, according to Netflix. 

The Umbrella Academy is being produced by Universal Cable Productions, with Steve Blackman (Fargo, Altered Carbon), serving as executive producer and showrunner. Additional executive producers include Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg and Gerard Way.

Blige returns to Netflix after co-starring in the streaming service’s film Mudbound, which earned Blige a 2018 Oscar nomination for best supporting actress as well as a best original song nomination for "Mighty River."

The Internet has been in overdrive over the latest choice to play Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man for the Big Screen. And though Tom Holland has some tough acts to follow – Tobey Maguire and  Andrew Garfield have portrayed the role in the last five movies – the character has also has an impressive run on television – including a limited run as a live-action series (The Amazing Spider-Man in 1978) -- to its more successful string of animated series on both cable and broadcast. So, based on my many (too many) years as a fan, and help from IMDB.com, here is a chronoligical list of TV Spidermen.

Spiderman: 1967-70

Paul Soles: Peter Parker/Spiderman:

A veteran voice actor – he wasHermey, the elf that wanted to be a dentist in the 1964 holiday classic Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer as well as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the 1966 animated Hulk series; Rick Jones in Captain America (1966); and Harold “Happy” Hogan in Iron Man (1966). Soles also provided the voice of Spiderman in two episodes of the short-lived Spider-Woman TV series in 1979 (Spider-Woman was voiced by none-other than Joan Van Ark, who later played Valene Ewing on Dallas and Knots Landing). Soles also made the transition to live action superhero movies, playing Stanley in the 2008 The Incredible Hulk (with Ed Norton as Bruce Banner/ The Hulk). According to IMDB, the 85-year old Soles’ last credit was for additional voices in Cartoon Network animated series The Day My Butt Went Psychoin 2013.

The Amazing Spiderman: 1978

Nicholas Hammond: Peter Parker/ Spiderman

The only live action series in the bunch, The Amazing Spiderman only lasted a few weeks on CBS in 1978 – it ran from April to May of that year. In 1979, the series returned as a handful of specials on the Tiffany Network. Hammond made his big first splash opposite Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music (1965) where he played the oldest male Von Trapp child, Friedrich. Although he didn’t get to use his singing and dancing chops in Spiderman, Hammond has had steady work in TV series over the years, and most recently played Henry Nevinson in the Australian mini-series Gallipoli, which aired on the Nine Network in 2015.

Spider-Man: 1994-98

Christopher David Barnes: Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Barnes, probably most famous for his portrayal of Greg Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996),  played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the animated Fox Kids’ series from 1994 to 1998. Since then he has voiced the wall-crawler in several video games – Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions (2010); Spider-Man: Edge of Time (2011); Marvel Heroes (2011; as Symbiote Spiderman/Superior Spiderman); Spider-Man Unlimited (2014, as Electro/Vulture). In the current Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, Barnes voices Max Dillon/Electro/Spider Knight.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: 2003

Neil Patrick Harris: Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Harris, the former Doogie Howser, M.D. who revitalized his career playing himself in comedy Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) and later played raconteur Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons, began his road back into the spotlight as the voice of the web-spinner in 2003. Harris has gone on to do several more movies, host the Oscars and the Tony Awards and has become one of the most well-liked stars in the business. Though short-lived, the Spidey series had an impressive cast – in addition to Harris, Ian Ziering (lately of the Sharknado movies) played best friend Harry Osbourne; singer/actress Lisa Loeb  played love interest Mary Jane Watson; Keith Carradine played J. Jonah Jameson and Ed Asner played Officer Barr. 

Ultimate Spider-Man: 2012-present

Drake Bell: Peter Parker/Spiderman

Bell is a veteran cable actor – he was the co-star of long-running Nickelodeon kids’ show Drake & Josh and was a regular performer on Nick’s The Amanda Show (1999-2001) starring former child star Amanda Bynes. Bell has made a name for himself in the Marvel animated Universe – he’s the voice of Spidey in several Disney series featuring the web-crawler – Marvel Avengers Assemble; Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload. The Ultimate Spiderman series also features some other well-known names: Boston Public star Chi McBride (as Nick Fury), Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons  (as J. Jonah Jameson) and SpongeBob Squarepants voice Tom Kenny (as Dr. Octopus).