Actor, Writer, Businessman Thom Gossom Jr. Has Taken ‘the Scenic Route’ in Life

Playing the Good Guy

For most of his life, Thomas “Thom” Gossom Jr. has played the role of the good guy. The successful athlete, TV and stage actor, writer and business professional radiates the potent combination of confidence and perseverance, complemented by finely honed communication skills. His earliest brush with fame was as the first African American athlete to graduate from Auburn University. He traded a successful football career for a flourishing business career then moved into a thriving acting career. Now in his sixth decade, he often lands parts as a thoughtful, sincere judge. Can you blame him for wanting a shot at playing a bad guy?

Football players who faced off against Auburn in the early 1970s probably did not see Gossom as such a good guy. The Birmingham native had come to the university in 1970 without a scholarship or a place on the team. “Walking-on” to a Division I college team is a daunting experience for anyone — and more challenging as Gossom was one of only two African-Americans on the team. He was the fastest player on the field and played well enough to earn an athletic scholarship. The wide receiver lettered for three years and is still remembered for a number of game-clinching catches. The 61-year-old has chronicled this time in his life, and what it meant to be one of very few black athletes in a largely segregated world, in his coming-of-age memoir, “Walk-On: My Reluctant Journey to Integration.” 

After college, Gossom — who now lives in Fort Walton Beach with his wife of 15 years, City Councilperson Joyce Gillie Gossom, PhD — played football professionally. He bounced around to a couple of teams but never really found a playing spot. It was then he transitioned from “Thomas,” the name he is called by those who have known him longest, to his on-air name, “Thom.” He took a job at a Birmingham TV station as a newscaster and shortened his name. He soon moved on to public relations work for BellSouth and earned his master’s degree in communications from the University of Montevallo. In 1987, the young professional founded his own company, Thom Gossom Communications, retaining BellSouth as a client among others.

Gossom broke into the film business when a producer of “Rebel Love” saw him do a presentation and then had a part written into the film for him — the educated manservant and, yes, a good guy. “I always say there were two good things about that part,” Gossom says. “Number one: I kept all my clothes on. And number two: It got me my SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card.”

In the ensuing years, that SAG card saw a lot of use. From 1988 to 1994, he played Ted Marcus on “In the Heat of the Night,” acting alongside the much-lauded Carroll O’Connor. The series was filmed in Georgia, which allowed Gossom to commute from his Birmingham home. The next big part he landed was in 1996 in “Ms. Evers’ Boys,” one of the first major films made for HBO and in which he played a lead. “It was a great part and got me lots of acclaim,” Gossom says. “My wife and I went to the premiere in Hollywood. After the premiere, I was approached by an agent. We met with him, and he asked if I was interested in working out of the L.A. market.”

“Ms. Evers’ Boys” had been filmed in Atlanta, but with his agreement to work out of L.A., Gossom’s commute stretched to four-hour plane flights. “Our son, Dixson, was in high school, so we didn’t want to move,” he says. Until about a year-and-a-half ago, the family kept a condo in Santa Monica, making their family time bi-coastal.

Gossom went on to play the title role of Israel in the Emmy-award winning episode of “NYPD Blue” titled “Lost Israel.” That episode was his personal favorite. “Israel was a homeless mute accused of molesting and killing a little boy,” Gossom says. “The challenge was to make this guy an empathetic character without him saying a word. That part got me a lot of work in L.A.” The actor has also been featured in small screen hits such as “The West Wing,” “Touched by an Angel,” “ER,” “Chicago Hope,” “Cold Case,” “Jack and Bobby” and in a recurring role as a judge on “Boston Legal.” Feature films to his credit include “Fight Club,” “Jeepers Creepers 2” and “XXX 2.”

For such a busy guy, a one-man play seems almost a natural. Set in 1999, Gossom’s “Speak of Me as I Am” chronicles three Saturdays at a Birmingham barbershop. The actor plays all nine parts, men who are regulars at the shop, which becomes their home-away-from-home. The play has been performed in Pensacola and other cities in the Southeast. “I would love to do it in the Fort Walton Beach area,” he says. Locally, Gossom is an alumni of Seaside’s Escape to Create program, during which he worked on a collection of stories and gave readings in the New Urban resort town’s theater.

Meanwhile, he and his wife joined their separate public relations firms and made the move to Fort Walton Beach where she also joined the University of West Florida. Today, their company has evolved into a broader ranged communications firm, an umbrella under which Gossom is involved in everything from writing to giving motivational speeches to entertainment projects, including working with their son, Dixson, a hip hop artist. 

“It all works together: it’s all communications to me,” Gossom says. “I can enjoy any project, from writing to acting.”

The role of husband and father came relatively late in life to Gossom, who married in his mid-40s. “As a gentleman once told me, ‘You took the scenic route to life,’” he says. “Frankly, with all this coming and going, I probably would not have been as good at it or persevered without a good home base — them being in my corner and backing me. And me backing them as well.”

What about the stress and possible rejection that come with auditions, performing and being in the public eye? “I have what I call The Next Day Rule,” Gossom says. “If I don’t get what I am trying for, I let myself be disappointed. But then the next morning when the sun comes up, I put it behind me and go on.”

From his position in the center of today’s media and entertainment business, Gossom recognizes the industry is rapidly changing. He was recently contacted on Facebook to read for a six-episode series and is planning this fall to shoot a webisode series, currently titled “Call of Duty,” in North Carolina. Big studios no longer have the lock on the business they once did, he believes. “I think young people today watch films on their phones, on the Web,” he says.

Gossom maintains close ties to Auburn, as a participant in its Ambassador Program, and is a spokesperson for Better Basics, a reading intervention program for middle school students. He frequently gives motivational speeches and continues his consulting work. Previews of work Gossom has coming soon include a script for a fund-raising gala film and a documentary he is shooting on James Owen, the first African American athlete at Auburn. He is working on a second edition of “Walk-On,” which is planned as an e-book. The day after our interview, the actor was reading for a part in a new TV series. Stay tuned to see if Gossom gets his shot at playing the bad guy.