Chadwick Boseman's Brother Recalls Last Conversation He Had with Late Actor: 'The Next Day He Passed'
Chadwick Boseman, Star of Black Panther, Dies at 43 After 4-Year Cancer Battle
The Black Panther star was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and over the past four years it progressed to stage IV
Chadwick Boseman's siblings are remembering their younger brother.
In interviews with the New York Times, published five weeks after the actor's death, Kevin and Pastor Derrick Boseman spoke lovingly about their beloved family member, whom they called Chad.
The star, best known for portraying King T'Challa/Black Panther, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and James Brown, died of colon cancer on Aug. 28 at age 43. Boseman's representatives shared the news in a heartfelt tribute on his Twitter account on Aug. 28, revealing that he had been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and had battled it privately for four years as it progressed to stage IV.
“I have been trying to remember Chad and not Chadwick. And there's just been a lot of Chadwick in the air,” Kevin, 48, said.
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Kevin, who is a dancer, actor and writer, also remembered the time when his brother's stardom was on the rise. “You have to start sharing that person with the world; I always endeavored to just treat him like my brother,” he said.
Victoria Will/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Chadwick Boseman
Before the late actor garnered box office success and Hollywood fame, the Boseman brothers were raised in the small town of Anderson, South Carolina. “Him being born there is an inspiration that you can come from there and become anything,” Pastor Boseman, 54, said.
“Chad was gifted,” he shared, noting that his younger brother could sit and draw anyone when he was a child. “He’s probably the most gifted person I’ve ever met.”
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Their father Leroy would tell them to do their best, an ideology that Chad especially took to heart. “A lot of people think making it means becoming an A-list movie star. I didn’t force that. I just knew that if Chad wanted to work in the arts, he would find a way and take care of himself,” he said.
Kevin added, “He always did his best. His best was incredible.”
Elsewhere in his interview, Pastor Boseman recalled the last conversation he had with his brother when the family had prayer calls. “No matter what he was going through, he always said, ‘Hallelujah.’ He never stopped saying it,” he said.
“When he told me that, I changed my prayer from, ‘God heal him, God save him,’ to ‘God, let your will be done,’ ” Pastor Boseman said. “And the next day he passed away.”
The late actor was laid to rest near his hometown six days after he died at his Los Angeles home. He was buried on Sept. 3 at Welfare Baptist Church Cemetery in Belton, which is about 11 miles from Anderson.
Boseman’s cause of death is listed as multiple organ failure, with the underlying cause listed as colon cancer, according to his death certificate.
In September, a spokesperson for the Anderson mayor’s office told TMZ the town is working on a permanent memorial to honor Boseman. The spokesperson said the memorial would be a statue with elements of sculpture and mural work and that the mayor's office plans to reach out for public input on the project.
