Chadwick Boseman from Marvel’s Black Panther won Best Actor in a Film at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, being the first posthumous acting nominee since Heath Ledger of “The Dark Knight.”
Boseman died of stage four colon cancer on August 28, 2020, a disease he kept secret from not just his friends and audiences, but also his collaborators.
Boseman’s win in the Best Actor in a Drama category had historical importance in addition to becoming the first posthumous Golden Globes recipient in more than a decade:
He is the first Black actor to receive the award since Forest Whitaker won it in 2007 for “The Last King of Scotland.” Boseman, Whitaker, Denzel Washington for “The Storm” in 2000, and Sidney Poitier for “Lilies in the Sun” in 1963 are the only Black actors to win Best Actor in a Drama.
Boseman is also the first posthumous Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor in a Drama since Peter Finch in 1977 for “Network.”
More history: Boseman is the first actor to receive the award for a role in a streaming network film. Netflix launched “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in December of 2020.
Sacha Baron Cohen (for both “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7”) and Anya Taylor-Joy (for both “Emma” and “The Queen’s Gambit”) were among the other double nominees on Sunday night.
Anthony Hopkins for “The Father,” Riz Ahmed for “Sound of Metal,” Gary Oldman for “Mank,” and Tahar Rahim for “The Mauritanian” beat out Boseman for Best Actor in a Drama. The late actor is also a heavy favorite to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards in April.
