List of The Closer characters

This is a list of characters from the television series The Closer, which premiered ran from 2005 to 2012 on TNT in the United States. Many of these characters reappeared in the spin-off series Major Crimes.

Main characters

Name	Portrayed by	Occupation/Status	Seasons
Brenda Leigh Johnson	Kyra Sedgwick	LAPD Deputy Chief, Major Crimes Division	1 – 7
Will Pope	J. K. Simmons	LAPD Assistant Chief for Operations (Seasons 1–6) Interim Chief of Police (Season 7)	1 – 7
David Gabriel	Corey Reynolds	LAPD Detective Sergeant	1 – 7
Louie Provenza	G. W. Bailey	LAPD Detective Lieutenant	1 – 7
Russell Taylor	Robert Gossett	LAPD Commander	1 – 7
Andy Flynn	Tony Denison	LAPD Detective Lieutenant	1 – 7
Michael Tao	Michael Paul Chan	LAPD Detective Lieutenant	1 – 7
Julio Sanchez	Raymond Cruz	LAPD Detective	1 – 7
Irene Daniels	Gina Ravera	LAPD Detective	1 – 4
Francis "Buzz" Watson	Phillip P. Keene	LAPD Civilian Surveillance Coordinator	1 – 7
Fritz Howard	Jon Tenney	FBI Special Agent, LAPD Liaison	1 – 7
Sharon Raydor	Mary McDonnell	LAPD Captain, Force Investigation Division	5 – 7

Recurring characters

Los Angeles Police Department

• Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) (main cast as of season 7): An LAPD Captain in charge of the Force Investigation Division. Charged with investigation of officer-involved use of force and bound by Federal oversight, her mission brings her into conflict with Chief Johnson, and the two soon develop an adversarial relationship. Over time, they have gradually come to respect each other, and Raydor is instrumental in Brenda's candidacy for Chief of Police. (Recurring seasons 5–6, main cast as of season 7).
• Deputy Chief (later Chief) Thomas "Tommy" Delk (Courtney B. Vance): Initially an LAPD Deputy Chief in charge of handling matters relating to terrorism, he is Brenda's main rival for the position of Chief of Police. Upon selection for the position, Delk offers Brenda Pope's job as Assistant Chief of Operations, which she declines — supporting Pope to fight to stay in the position.
• Detective Ross (Conan McCarty): A Robbery Homicide detective whose loyalties are with Commander Taylor.

Family

• Willie Rae Johnson (Frances Sternhagen): Brenda’s mother. Willie Rae was the buffer between Brenda and her father, and her enthusiasm for Brenda's work at times embarrassed Brenda. Despite this, she and Brenda had a close, loving relationship. She dies near the end of Season 7.
• Clay Johnson (Barry Corbin): Brenda's father. Clay is often hurt by Brenda's neglect of the family, but loves her unconditionally, as she does him.
• Charleen "Charlie" Johnson (Sosie Ruth Bacon): Brenda's problematic 16-year-old niece, brought to LA by Willie Rae, who hopes Brenda and Fritz will help straighten her out.
• Claire Howard (Amy Sedaris): Fritz' colorful sister, and now Brenda's sister-in-law. A self-described intuitionist, and an adherent to a number of alternative practices, she "assisted" the MCD with one of their cases.

Los Angeles County Coroner's Office

• Dr. Crippen (James L. Avery): The original medical examiner who Brenda and her team most commonly dealt with (seasons 1 to early 3). He was initially annoyed by Brenda’s attitude, much like the rest of the police department. He sustains a serious foot injury and is replaced by Dr. Morales.
• Dr. Fernando Morales (Jonathan Del Arco): A Deputy Medical Examiner for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, who took over (season 3) following Dr. Crippen's injury. Though sarcastic and rude in demeanor, with an occasionally morbid sense of humor, he is passionate about his work. Morales is openly gay, and at times will serve as a resource regarding the gay community. While Morales' full name is not known during the Closer and the first three seasons of Major Crimes, its mentioned in Rusty Beck's video blog where he is interviewed.
• Terrence Hynes (Robert Clendenin): A socially inept LA County Coroner's Forensics Support Technician with an odd sense of humor. Hynes is responsible for preparing a body to be brought to the Coroner's office for autopsy, and for assisting the Medical Examiner. He is pursuing medical studies during early seasons, and last appears as Dr. Hynes, a medical examiner for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, in season 5.
• Coroner's Investigator Kendall (Ransford Doherty): A field operative who is charged with examining the body at the crime scene, and transporting it to the LA County Coroner's office.

Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

• Deputy DA Martin Garnett (James Patrick Stuart): A Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County, charged with making decisions about whether Brenda's cases will go to court. He and Brenda have an often-difficult working relationship.
• Deputy DA Andrea Hobbs (Kathe Mazur) A Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County, charged with making decisions about whether Brenda's cases will go to court. Like Garnett, she can bump heads with Brenda at times, but tends to have a better working relationship with her.

Others

• Tom Blanchard (Ray Wise): Brenda and Pope’s lawyer on separate occasions. He is an adept, high-profile lawyer, aware of his own power and willing to use it. He is the keeper of a gift Will once gave to Brenda, its identity unknown.
• Gavin Q. Baker (Mark Pellegrino) Brenda's flamboyant attorney in the Turrell Baylor lawsuit. A former City Attorney for Los Angeles, Gavin is astute, clever and brutally honest.
• Peter Goldman (Curtis Armstrong): Lawyer representing the Turrell Baylor family, who subsequently is on a mission to destroy Brenda's reputation.
• Ricardo Ramos (Stephen Martines): Reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who occasionally observes or assists with LAPD cases. There is some tension between the MCD and Ramos following his articles suggesting preference for wealthy white victims in the choice of cases.
• Bill Croelick (Jason O'Mara): A sociopathic murder suspect with an obsession with fire, who first appears in season 1 when he is exonerated for murder. Prior to that, he had been on trial for a similar murder, but was found not guilty. He reappears in season 4 and assists Brenda with a case, after which he promises to leave her jurisdiction and never return.
• Phillip Stroh (Billy Burke): A criminal defense lawyer who specializes in defending accused sex offenders, he first appears as the attorney for a suspected rapist, and demands access to all of the LAPD's evidence against his client in exchange for the name of the man's partner. As it turns out, Stroh himself was the partner, and used this tactic to ascertain that there was no evidence connecting him to the crime. Brenda becomes obsessed with proving Stroh's guilt, and he is finally arrested in the series finale after he breaks into her home and attempts to murder her and a witness to one of his crimes.