The actor, a regular in exploitation films such as 1973’s The Mack, died of injuries sustained in a car accident three days earlier, his daughter Ch-a Mosley told The Hollywood Reporter. Mosley’s most important film role was as blues and folk singer Huddie Ledbetter in Gordon Parks’ Leadbelly in 1976, which critic Roger Ebert called in his review “one of the best biographies of a musician I’ve ever seen”. Mosley also appeared in several blaxploitation films, including Hit Man (1972), Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973), and Darktown Strutters (1975). In The Greatest (1977), the 6ft 2in Mosley played boxer Sonny Liston, who was beaten by Muhammad Ali, playing himself. Born on December 18, 1938, Roger Earl Mosley grew up in the Imperial Courts project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, raised by a single mother, Eloise. He studied acting under Raymond St Jacques at the Mafundi Institute, a community arts school in Watts, and made his television debut in an episode of CBS’s Cannon in 1971, followed by small roles in The New Centurions and Hickey & Boggs. Appeared in 158 of Magnum, 162 episodes of PI, which aired between December 1980 and May 1988. According to Mosley, white actor Gerald McRaney was to play the role of TC Calvin, who owned a local one-man helicopter charter and often flew Selleck’s Thomas Magnum to Hawaii for various occasions. But the producers wanted a person of color for the main cast, which also included Larry Manetti and John Hillerman. Selleck suggested Mosley based on a prison film they made together, Terminal Island (1973). “We could never mourn such an amazing person,” Ch-a’s daughter wrote on Facebook. “He would HATE any crying in his name. It is time to celebrate the legacy he left for us all. I love you dad. You loved me too. My heart is heavy but I am strong. I will take care of mom, your love for almost 60 years. You raised me well and I am in good hands. Rest.” Mosley is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Antoinette, son Brandon, grandson Austin and several nieces and nephews.
