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NEWS SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 ¦ 9

Bridgeport Firm’s Connection
To Late Star Chadwick Boseman

By Robert Storace

As celebrities and fans mourn the death of
actor Chadwick Boseman, Connecticut liti-
gator Josh Koskoff recalled how his parents
had a front-row seat to “Marshall,” the role that kick-
started Boseman’s movie career.
Boseman, who was battling colon cancer for four
years, died of the disease at age 43. He leaves behind
highlights of a short but dazzling career in which he
played King T’Challa in Marvel’s “Black Panther.”
But the actor also portrayed such iconic figures in
American Black history as Jackie Robinson, James
Brown and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall.
Memories of Boseman poured in from all walks of Chadwick Boseman at the 50th NAACP Image Awards
life. They included former President Barack Obama
in Los Angeles on March 30, 2019.
Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

to actor Denzel Washington, who once paid Bose- It’s not widely known, but, Koskoff said, his father
man’s tuition to Howard University. relayed to him that Boseman went to the Marshall
Koskoff ’s father, Michael Koskoff, who worked family to get their approval for his portrayal of the
at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, died in Supreme Court legend. They said yes.
April 2019. The senior Koskoff was a huge admirer “From what my dad told me, he would have
of Thurgood Marshall and got the dream job of a turned down the role if the family was at all uncom-
lifetime, Josh Koskoff said, when he co-wrote the fortable with him playing the role,” Koskoff recalled.
screenplay for the movie “Marshall” with Jacob Kos- “In the earnest way Chadwick approached the fam-
koff, Josh Koskoff ’s brother. ily simply reflected that, while on the outside he did
Now, following his father’s death, the younger not look like Thurgood Marshall, on the inside he
Koskoff is a partner with the firm. He never met shared his values.”
Boseman, but said his parents would discuss the ac- Everyone, from the actors to those behind the
tor’s kindness and acting abilities. The elder attorney scenes, adored Boseman, Koskoff said.
and his wife were on the set each day of the eight “Everyone thought he was a really decent guy. He
weeks the Marshall movie shot in Buffalo. It pre- was extremely humble, shy and thoughtful,” Koskoff
miered in 2017. said.
Josh Koskoff said the casting for an actor to play Koskoff ’s parents had dinner together with the
Marshall was “a tall order. In part, because Hol- crew after shooting each day, he said. “As it turned
lywood like the legal profession are shamefully out, my parents got to know the other actors bet-
inadequately represented with African American ter than Chadwick as he’d occasionally participate,”
individuals.” Koskoff said.
Boseman, Koskoff said, “bore no resemblance While Koskoff can’t be certain, he said it wouldn’t
to Thurgood Marshall, except that he was African surprise him if those missed dinners were due to
American.”
¦ Continued on PAGE 10

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