Chadwick Boseman, the 43-year-old “Black Panther” star who died in August after a private battle against colon cancer, was posthumously decorated with a Golden Globe best actor performance in a drama for his role in “Black Bottom by Ma Rainey. “His wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on her behalf and gave an emotional speech during the virtual awards on Sunday night.
“He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” she said, holding back tears. “He said something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside everything that says you can … that tells you to continue, that calls you back to what you should be doing at this moment in history.”
Boseman was nominated in the drama category along with Riz Ahmed for “Sound of Metal”, Anthony Hopkins for “The Father”, Gary Oldman for “Mank” and Tahar Rahim for “The Mauritanian”.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is a Netflix movie inspired by the true story of the blues legend. And like Mom, the film is big, obscene and full of music. Boseman played a character named Levee, a talented and tormented musician. While filming the movie, he was also battling colon cancer, which ended up taking his life.
“I don’t have his words, but we have to take every moment to celebrate those we love, so thank you HFPA for giving me the opportunity to do just that. And dear? Keep coming,” said Boseman’s wife.
The late actor gained fame in the title role of the 2018 Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther“as superhero King T’Challa – and also starred in Spike Lee’s” Da 5 Bloods “. He also played black icons like James Brown, Thurgood Marshall and Jackie Robinson.