He has also starred as James Brown in the 2014 film Get on Up and as Thurgood Marshall in the 2017 film Marshall.
Boseman's other notable films include Message from the King (2016), Black Panther (2018), 21 Bridges (2019), and Da 5 Bloods (2020).
He died on 28 August 2020, at the age of 43, from colon cancer.
Boseman was born in Anderson, South Carolina, on November 29, 1976, the only son of Carolyn (née Holmes) and Leroy Boseman.
His mother worked for a textile company, while his father worked as a National Guardsman and later as a upholsterer at a BMW plant.
Boseman's ancestry includes Igbo, Yoruba, and Benga from his father's native Nigeria, as well as Dutch, English, German, and Swiss from his mother's side.
His parents divorced when he was a child, and he and his sisters lived with their mother.
Boseman was raised a Christian and regularly attended church.
He graduated from T. L. Hanna High School in 1994.
In 2000, Boseman graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing.
While at Howard, he became the lead singer of the university's jazz band.
Boseman's acting professor, Phylicia Rashad, told him that he had the potential to become "one of the greatest actors of our time".
Boseman initially wanted to be a screenwriter and director, but he decided to pursue acting because of the personal fulfillment it gave him.
He has said that he "felt a personal connection to the material" when he was cast as Jack Johnson in the play The Pitts, which is about the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion.
After graduating from Howard, Boseman moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.