The movie star was diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago, and died as a result of the cancer. The death came as a shock to many as the actor never spoke publicly about the disease.
Now, however, it becomes clear why the actor chose to keep the cancer hidden from the public.
– Very private
According to the star’s agent, Michael Greene, Boseman’s mother, Carolyn, contributed to his decision to share only the details of the cancer with a few close friends.
– She always taught him how not to make people make a fuss around him, Greene tells The Hollywood Reporter, and adds that Boseman was a very, very private person.
However, one who did not know about the cancer is Wayne AI Frederick (49), president of Howard University. He met Boseman for a dinner last year to discuss the university’s plans for the art program. Boseman has himself been a student at the university.
Frederick recalls that he noticed that Boseman looked like he had lost weight.
At the time, he assumed it was due to a film he was working on, and therefore asked Boseman how difficult it was to lose weight in a short time for film roles.
– In his usual style, he gave a long, detailed answer where he explained that he was a vegetarian and that he trained and tried to take care of himself. It was a very thoughtful answer, he says.
–
Would not charge anyone
But as Frederick and the rest of the world later found out, Boseman fought against bowel cancer for several years. He was diagnosed with stage three of the disease in 2016, which progressed to stage four and eventually led to his death on August 28.
That Boseman chose to keep the disease to himself, Frederick believes, was a sign of the actor’s integrity.
– One of his greatest qualities was never to burden anyone else, but rather to be there to incur the burdens of everyone else, he continues.
As mentioned, Boseman’s fight against bowel cancer was kept extremely private. Those who knew about the disease were a small group of friends and close members of his subject.
The news of Chadwick Boseman’s death came on Friday last week. In a statement published on his Twitter-konto it stated, among other things, the following:
It is with bottomless grief that we confirm that Chadwick Boseman has passed away. It was the honor of his life to bring King T’Challa to life in “Black Panther.”
–
Set a record
Furthermore, it was written, among other things, that he died in his own home, with his wife and family present.
At the time of writing, the statement has been liked over 7.7 million times and shared 3.1 million times. In fact, could Twitter state last Sunday that the message is the most liked on the microblogging service of all time.
Boseman’s career exploded when he got the role of the superhero from “Black Panther”. Before that, he played the African-American icons Jackie Robinson in the film “42” from 2013 and James Brown in the film “Get on Up” from 2014.