Late actor Louis Gossett Jr. once worked a relative's farm in Oconee County

Louis Gossett Jr., the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor who died March 28, was known for his numerous film roles, but many people in the Athens area probably don’t realize that in his youth he spent time on a relative’s farm in Oconee County.

Gossett grew up in Brooklyn, New York, but in the 1940s, his parents sent him to the farm of his great-aunt Lizzie “Sib” Stephens and uncle Govnor Stephens.

In an August 1999 interview with the Athens Banner-Herald, Gossett said he had “great memories” of his time on their farm, which was located outside the city of Watkinsville near the Butler's Crossing area.

“I’d come down at the end of school and work on the farm with mules and help with the watermelons, slop the hogs, work in the garden and do chores,” he said.

Gossett died at age 87 in Santa Monica, Calif., but in recent years also had a home in Atlanta. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting actor in “An Officer and a Gentleman” and an Emmy for his role on the TV series “Roots,” according to a story in USA Today.

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Gossett told the Banner-Herald that his trips south were his first experience with segregation. He’d take the Silver Streak to Washington, D.C., or Baltimore and from there he would take a seat in the back that was reserved for Blacks as he crossed the Mason-Dixon line.

“That was the first time I saw white and colored water fountains and bathrooms,” he said.

When the train arrived in Athens, he said Govner Stephens would be waiting. Stephens, who died in 1957, is buried at Shady Grove Baptist Church.

Lizzie Stephens lived until she was 87 and the late June Gennings of Watkinsville told the Banner-Herald he remembered her talking about her famous cousin.

Gossett also recalled that he had “relatives in Farmington and Bogart."

"I remember the barbecue in Bogart, but it was too rich – too hot,” he said.

It was on the Oconee farm that Gossett jokingly said he may have set an Olympic record for running when he stirred up a hive of yellow jackets.

“I didn’t know what they were – I came from Brooklyn,” he said with a laugh.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Late actor Louis Gossett Jr. once worked on an Oconee County farm