Louis Gossett Jr

The Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr, best known for his role in the 1983 military classic ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, has announced that he has been diagnosed as suffering from prostate cancer.

He made the announcement on Tuesday, and added that the disease was diagnosed early and he hopes and expects to make a full recovery.

Louis Gossett Jr

He also said that his decision to go public with the news that he is fighting prostate cancer was made in order to inform the community about the dangers of the disease. He said that there was not enough awareness in the African-American community about the tackling it, either with preventative measures (such as health checks by your local doctor) or early treatment. Louis Gossett Jr is 73 years old.

He won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in An Officer and a Gentleman, starring alongside Richard Gere in the gritty Navy drama.

Louis Gossett Jr is also a writer, and his memoir ‘An Actor and a Gentleman’ will be released later this year.

The most common risk factor associated with prostate cancer is age. Most of the time, prostate cancer does not cause symptoms – and generally by the time it does the cancer may have spread elsewhere in the body.