Gotham Awards: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis to Receive Tributes

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Gotham Awards tribute Chadwick Boseman Viola Davis

Chadwick Boseman: Jon Kapaloff, Getty Images; Viola Davis: Brian Bowen Smith

Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman will be honored with tributes at the 30th anniversary IFP Gotham Awards, the Independent Filmmaker Project announced on Thursday.

The two actors both star in the Netflix film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” an adaptation of August Wilson’s play directed by George C. Wolfe. In the drama, which is set in 1927, Davis plays the title role of legendary jazz and blues singer Ma Rainey, while Boseman plays a young trumpeter who is tired of playing what he thinks of as old-fashioned material and wants to push jazz in a newer, fresher direction.

This is the first time that the Gotham Awards’ actor and actress tributes have gone to two performers from the same movie. Other honorees in recent years have been Laura Dern, Sam Rockwell, Rachel Weisz, Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Dustin Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Also Read: Women Dominate Gotham Awards Nominations, 'First Cow' Leads All Films

Boseman is the second actor to receive a tribute at the Gotham Awards, after James Gandolfini in 2013. Postproduction manager William J. Nisselson received a posthumous Industry Tribute in 2001.

When Gotham nominations were announced in November, Boseman received a nom in the Best Actor category. In the eight years in which the Gothams’ Best Actor and Best Actress categories have been in existence, Boseman is the only actor to receive a tribute and be nominated in a competitive category in the same year.

His nomination was the only one for “Ma Rainey” in the four film categories in which it was eligible.

The Gotham Awards will take place in New York City on Jan. 11, 2021. The show will be based at its usual venue, Cipriani Wall Street, but in what IFP says is “a virtual hybrid format featuring virtual interactive tables in order to follow health and safety protocols brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Additional Gotham Awards tributes will be announced in the coming weeks.

Chadwick Boseman's 10 Most Memorable Roles, From Jackie Robinson to Black Panther (Photos)

Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer on Friday at age 43, made a striking impression in both TV and on the big screen in his too-short time in the spotlight.
Nathaniel Ray, "Lincoln Heights" (2008-09)

Chadwick Boseman had popped in small TV roles in the early 2000s but he had his first major breakthrough role in this ABC Family drama as a member of the U.S. Army who belatedly learns he's the son of the series lead (Russell Hornsby).
ABC Family
Graham McNair, "Persons Unknown" (2010)

He followed "Lincoln Heights" with a role on a short-lived NBC drama about a group of strangers who find themselves plunked into a ghost town.
NBC
Jackie Robinson, "42" (2013)

Boseman landed his first lead role on the big screen in Brian Helgeland's biopic of Jackie Robinson, the first Black player to break into Major League Baseball. He starred opposite Harrison Ford, who played the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager.
Warner Bros.
Vontae Mack, "Draft Day" (2014)

Boseman switched sports for his next role, as top linebacker prospect from Ohio State who's considered a safe No. 1 pick for a Cleveland Browns GM played by Kevin Costner.

Lionsgate
James Brown, "Get on Up" (2014)

Boseman left the playing field but returned to the biopic genre for this next project, Tate Taylor's look at the rock legend James Brown.
Universal
Jacob King, "Message From the King" (2016)

In this Netflix film, Boseman plays a South African man who arrives in Los Angeles searching for his missing younger sister -- and then embarks on a vengeance quest in an unfamiliar city.

Netflix
Black Panther (2016-19)

After making an introduction in "Captain America: Civil War," Boseman helped create a cultural phenomenon with the success of 2018's standalone "Black Panther" as the prince of the fictional African nation of Wakanda who becomes a superhero beyond his isolated realm. The film grossed $1.3 billion worldwide.
Disney
Thurgood Marshall, "Marshall" (2017)

Boseman returned to playing famous historic figures in Reginald Hudlin's courtroom drama -- which narrowed its look at Thurgood Marshall to an early case he tried as a lawyer for the NAACP, long before he ever imagined taking a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Open Road
Andre Davis, "21 Bridges" (2019)

In this thriller, Boseman plays an NYPD detective in the midst of a manhunt for two cop-killers as he discovers that his fellow officers may be up to shady business themselves.
STX Entertainment
Stormin' Norman, "Da 5 Bloods" (2020)

Boseman has a small role in Spike Lee's Vietnam-set drama as the leader of all-Black squadron sent to recover the cargo from a downed CIA helicopter. Though he only appears in flashbacks, he makes a striking impression.
Netflix

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The actor died Friday at age 43 of colon cancer

Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer on Friday at age 43, made a striking impression in both TV and on the big screen in his too-short time in the spotlight.

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