Chadwick Boseman 'inspired generations' - tributes to actor after cancer death

'The strength, the courage': Oprah Winfrey and Disney chief Bob Iger lead the tributes to Chadwick Boseman - while Marvel co-stars and Denzel Washington express their shock at his death from cancer aged 43
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• Chadwick Boseman passed away Friday after four-year battle with colon cancer
• The star, who was 43, never spoke publicly about his diagnosis
• Boseman died at his Los Angeles home surrounded by wife Taylor Simone Ledward and other family members
• He was diagnosed with the devastating illness in 2016, and over the four-year battle it progressed from stage three to stage four
• Chadwick rose to prominence in 2018 with his role as the lead in Marvel's Black Panther

Chadwick Boseman died at the age of 43 after enduring a four-year battle with colon cancer.

Oprah Winfrey took to Twitter shortly after news broke to post a heartfelt tribute to the Black Panther star.

'What a gentle gifted SOUL. Showing us all that Greatness in between surgeries and chemo. The courage, the strength, the Power it takes to do that. This is what Dignity looks like,' wrote the 66-year-old media mogul.

Meanwhile Bob Iger, the Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, which produces the Marvel films that made Boseman a superstar, also paid tribute.

The mogul described Chadwick as 'an extraordinary talent, and one of the most gentle and giving souls I have ever met,' in his Twitter thread.

He continued: 'Becoming a long-awaited hero to millions around the world, and inspiring us all to dream bigger and demand more than the status quo. We mourn all that he was, as well as everything he was destined to become.'

Iger went on to address Boseman's grieving relatives and fans: 'His absence from the screen is only eclipsed by his absence from our lives. All of us at Disney send our prayers and heartfelt condolences to his family.'  

Boseman, who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2016, never spoke publicly about his diagnosis. It, eventually, progressed to stage four. 

'A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,' wrote Chadwick's grieving family in a statement. 

'From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and several more- all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T'Challa to life in Black Panther,' the statement concluded.

Boseman became a household name in 2018 with his role as young king T'Challa in Marvel's blockbuster superhero film Black Panther.

Source : DailyMail.co.uk, 29 August 2020