Chadwick Boseman, the 43-year-old “Black Panther” star who died in August after a private battle with colon cancer, was posthumously awarded a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a drama for his role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” His wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf, and gave an emotional speech during the virtual award show 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 would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside all of that tells you that you can … that tells you to keep going that calls you back to what you are meant to 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 film inspired by the true-life story of the blues legend. And like Ma herself, the movie is big, bawdy and full of music. Boseman played a character named Levee, a talented and tormented musician. As he was shooting the movie, he was also battling colon cancer, which ultimately took his life.
“I don’t have his words, but we have to take all the moments to celebrate those we love, so thank you HFPA for giving me the opportunity to do just that. And hun? You keep ’em coming,” Boseman’s wife said.
The late actor came to fame in the title role of 2018’s Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther” as superhero King T’Challa — and also starred in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.” He also played Black icons such as James Brown, Thurgood Marshall and Jackie Robinson.
