"Little House on the Prairie" notoriously had very few characters of color, but Joe Kagan, the boxer turned Walnut Grove resident played by Moses Gunn, was one of them.
Gunn was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His childhood wasn't easy, but stories, and the telling of them, seemed to be a solace for the young man. After a stint in the army and some time spent obtaining a bachelor's degree, Gunn founded a theater company, Footlights Across Tennessee, that he'd continue to work with for many years. The group, which toured colleges in the South and Midwest, wasn't his only contribution to the performing arts landscape— in 1968 he co-founded The Negro Ensemble Company.
Perhaps best known as a stage actor, Gunn won an Obie Award for "Titus Andronicus" and a Tony Award for "The Poison Tree." But his forrays into film and TV were by no means unremarkable. He was nominated for an Emmy for his work in "Roots" and had a string for notable movies including "Shaft," "Ragtime," and "Heartbreak Ridge." In fact, his work was so notable that critics hailed him as "one of the country's finest actors."
His "Little House on the Prairie" role came in the later stages of his career. His final appearance, in 1981, came just a decade before his death in 1993. When he died that year from complications of asthma he was 64.
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