An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film that stars Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Louis Gossett, Jr., who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, and was produced by Lorimar Productions for Paramount Pictures. It tells the story of Zack (Gere), a U.S. Navy Aviation Officer Candidate who is beginning his training at Aviation Officer Candidate School. While Zack meets his first true girlfriend during his training, a local young woman named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard-driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant (Gossett, Jr.), the Drill Instructor training his class.