Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, died Friday after a four-year battle with colon cancer, his representative said. He was 43.

Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press.

Intensely private, he had managed to keep his illness secret since his 2016 diagnosis and even as it progressed to stage IV.

Boseman was “a true fighter,” his family said in a statement.