Anderson's Chadwick Boseman wins posthumous Golden Globe award for "Ma Rainey"

Anderson County native Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous Golden Globe on Sunday for lead actor, the first of several major film awards or nominations he is expected to receive in coming weeks.

Boseman, who died in August of colon cancer at age 43, posthumously won best actor for his career-best turn in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

His wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, tearfully accepted the award Sunday over video on behalf of her late husband. 

"He would thank God, he would thank his parents, he would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices," she said. "I don't have his words, but we have to take all the moments to celebrate all the ones we love. So thank you HFPA for this opportunity to do exactly that. And honey, you keep 'em coming." 

Boseman, an Anderson County native, could be one of the few to posthumously receive two Oscar nominations as the industry's award season heats up.

More:Golden Globes: Best and worst moments, from Tina and Amy's jokes to Chadwick Boseman's emotional win

Boseman kept a blistering pace of Hollywood movies, since 2013's Jackie Robinson biopic "42," which introduced him to a broad movie audience after a brief stint as a soap actor.

Oscar nominations, officially the 93rd Academy Awards, are expected to be announced on March 15 with voting starting this week. Critics Choice and the Producer's Guild of America will release their own awards in the next week, the Screen Actors Guild awards are in early April and the Oscars awards themselves will be given out on April 25.

Boseman acted in two films released in 2020, Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" which can be watched on Netflix.  He is leading several Hollywood media lists of actors who could be nominated for an Oscar this year, including Variety and Insider.com.

The Oscar ceremony, Hollywood's highest honors, is scheduled for April.

If Boseman is nominated for either, he would become the seventh person posthumously nominated for an actor role.

If he wins as a lead actor, for Ma Rainey's, he would follow behind only Peter Finch from 1976's "Network." Heath Ledger won a supporting actor role posthumously for his role as Joker in "The Dark Knight." Boseman would be up for a supporting actor nomination for his "Da 5 Bloods" role.

Known as Chad, how Boseman grew up in Anderson County

A graduate of T.L. Hanna High School, Boseman's recognitions have already included honors in the entryway of his high school, where he was known as Chad, and several high acting accolades including box office and critical successes.

Boseman went to Howard University, where he would later deliver a commencement address in which he reflected on the decisions that would lead him to roles portraying characters with definable skills and hope.

His acting drew on research and connections with those who knew the people he portrayed, said Deanna Brown Thomas, daughter of James Brown, during an Anderson memorial service in September.

She said Boseman didn't look much like her father, way too tall for starters, but he was able to embody James Brown and pulling off his essence - at one point Boseman-as-Brown turns around and Brown Thomas said she saw her father in that moment. It was a feat that decades of lookalike impersonators could never dream of doing, she said.

Boseman had portrayed a long list of iconic real-life characters - Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and James Brown - along with the lead in "Black Panther." That Marvel franchise movie that he led was the 12th highest-grossing movie of all time, the highest-grossing standalone Marvel film, and he was in the ensemble cast of "The Avengers: Endgame," the highest-grossing movie ever.

One part of Boseman's legacy was settled in mid-December when Disney announced a 10-year roadmap for the Marvel franchise, which includes Black Panther.

The role of T'Challa will not be recast, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said during the announcement.

More: Marvel to honor Chadwick Boseman by not recasting T'Challa in 'Black Panther 2,' due out July 2022

"Chadwick Boseman was an immensely talented actor and an inspirational individual who affected all of our lives," Feige said. "His portrayal of T'Challa the Black Panther is iconic and transcends any iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel's past. It's for that reason we will not recast the character."

The new film, "Black Panther II," will be written and directed by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler who is working on it now with an anticipated release date of July 2022.

Since Boseman's death, there have been scholarships, art projects, and memorial celebrations in Anderson. His body has been released to a local funeral home.

Jan Burdette, a longtime nurse at Boseman's high school, told the Independent Mail in December that she came to the school after Boseman's graduation but he remains an inspiration to students there.

She said the loss, about nine months apart, of two internationally-known role models from the school has been especially hard on students, compounding the difficulties facing everyone in 2020. James "Radio" Kennedy died in December 2019. He attended the school as an informal junior for decades.

Burdette said the two famous Hanna role models showed two different paths to success: Kennedy's self-acceptance and Boseman's drive. Those approaches can complement each other, she said, and the school intends to continue honors for both of its famous sons by reworking the entranceway to highlight them.

The story will be updated

USA Today reporter Patrick Ryan contributed to this story.

Mike Ellis covers Easley, Powdersville and Pickens County along with faith and religion. He's always looking for the next story people need to read, please send any tips or feedback to mellis@gannett.com