Star of TNT’s top-rated television series “The Closer,” Robert Gossett boasts an extensive stage, film, and television resume that stand testament to his award winning, practiced, and versatile talent showcased through his role as “Commander Taylor” on the critically-acclaimed show. “The Closer’s” third season premiere this year set a new record as cable’s top series telecast of all time. The show stars Kyra Sedgwick as “Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson” and Robert Gossett as “Commander Taylor” who continue to battle over how to crack sensitive, high-profile murder cases. The stubborn “Taylor” questions Sedgwick’s every move as she struggles to stay on top of her personal and professional challenges on “The Closer.”  In addition to captivating television audiences with his hit show, Gossett’s poise and stirring emotion has graced films such as Tim Burton’s BATMAN RETURNS opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny Devito, Irwin Winkler’s THE NET alongside Sandra Bullock and Ben Philips, and Time Hunter’s THE MAKER with Matthew Modine.

Growing up in the South Bronx, Gossett quickly learned the value of dedication. His father was a police officer while his mother kept tremendously busy as a laundress, peace worker, and an OB/GYN nurses’ aid. Always close to his Academy Award winning cousin Lou Gossett, Robert viewed his cousin’s career as inspiration that acting could be a viable career. Starting from when he could first remember, music was the saving grace in Gossett’s life. During elementary school, Gossett learned how to play clarinet out of a trumpet book. Under scholarship, he took Saturday lessons at the Riverdale Music School and auditioned to the All City Orchestra in the Bronx with director John Mottley.

Robert Gossett attended New York’s High School for the Performing Arts, the school which the notable “Fame” musical centered upon. While in high school, he ate, breathed, and slept music. When he had a spare moment away from the music scene, Gossett enjoyed playing sports and boxed at the Grammacy Boy’s Club. After intense music study, he attended Bronx Community College and went on to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a notable acting school that has helped create industry greats for over one hundred and twenty years. (Alumnae of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts have received nominations for 72 Oscars, 205 Emmys and 58 Tonys total.)

Shortly after graduating high school, Gossett launched his professional theater career with a role in the funny and sentimental “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the historical Mercer Arts Center in Greenwich Village.  While concentrating on theater, Gossett spent time working with the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), a renowned center whose mission is to present performances by and about African-American people that are often overlooked by the theatrical community.  Other well-known former NEC members include Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson.  In correlation with the NEC, Gossett performed in eye-opening shows such as “Manhattan Made Me,” “Sons and Father of Sons,” “A Soldier’s Play,” and “Colored People’s Time.” His impressive theater credits also include roles in Broadway productions of Lloyd Richard’s “Fences” with James Earl Jones, Hal Scott’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” and Donald Mckayle’s “The Last Minstrel Show.” For his performance in the Mojo Ensemble Company’s “Indigo Blues,” a drama directed by his wife Michele Gossett, Gossett received the 1993 NAACP Theater Award for Best Male Performance and the Dramalogue Best Actor Award. Also with Mojo Ensemble Company, his performance in “Washington Square Moves” earned him the 1995 L.A. Weekly Theater Award and the Dramalogue Best Actor Award.       

Gossett’s uncanny ability to portray meaningful, serious roles has earned him the reputation as an actor that can break down boundaries in film and society at large.  Starring in WHITE MAN’S BURDEN (1995) alongside John Travolta, Gossett’s character faced an alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Continuing to expand his acting credo, he tackled the role of playing a homeless craftsman with Tourette’s syndrome in JIMMY ZIP (1999), the winner of Hollywood Film Festival’s Best Feature Made for Under $1 Million for that year. In the widely acclaimed, action-packed ARLINGTON ROAD (1999), Gossett played FBI agent coping with potential spies and terrorists around Washington DC.  In this gripping, contemporary thriller that reflects the unsteady times after both the Columbine High School shootings and Oklahoma City bombings, Gossett helps spread a powerful message of what it means to be an American.

Along with his movie roles, Gossett’s television career boasts his ability to play dramatic and serious roles but, at the same time, show his comical, lighthearted side. He played the cool and confident Palm Beach detective “Lt. Lou Hudson” on the television series “Silk Stalkings,” the frightening “James McGinnis” on “Dark Angel” with Jessica Alba,  and reoccurring roles on “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Promised Land,” and “Pacific Palisades.” Moreover, he also has appeared on “Hangin with Mr. Cooper,” “NYPD Blue,” and “Touched by an Angel.”

Throughout his career, community service and charitable involvement have been an integral part of Gossett’s life. One of his most rewarding experiences is his work with children. As a volunteer basketball coach, he loves the excitement of running up and down the sidelines supporting his players and watching them succeed.  The ever-balanced Gossett has not forgotten where he has come from, illustrated through his current role in helping to keep the crime ridden streets of LA clean on “The Closer.”  Gossett enjoys playing relevant roles that bring challenges both to himself as well as to his audiences. His past diverse and provocative roles have made him more than prepared for whatever the future might bring him.