Thom Gossom Jr.

Thom Gossom Jr. (Thomas Gossom Jr., born 2 May 1952, Birmingham, Alabama) is an American actor, writer, and communications professional, active since 1985. He is the first Black athlete to graduate from Auburn University (1975), where he was a three-year starter wide receiver and the first Black athlete in the Southeastern Conference to walk on, earn a full scholarship, and graduate. He holds a BA in communications from Auburn and an MA from the University of Montevallo. He is married to Joyce Gillie Gossom (1997) and has a son, Dixson M. Gossom, a hip hop artist. He is CEO of Best Gurl Inc., a communications firm, and authored the memoir Walk-On: My Reluctant Journey to Integration at Auburn University (2008). He received Auburn University's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. His most notable screen roles include Detective Stern in Fight Club (1999) (Brad Pitt, Edward Norton), Ben Washington in the HBO film Miss Evers' Boys (1997) (Laurence Fishburne, Alfre Woodard), Coach Charlie Hanna in Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) (Angela Malsini, Scott Speed), Bink in The Chamber (1996) (Chris O'Donnell, Linda Fiorentino), and Slim's Father in Queen & Slim (2019) (Janelle Monáe, John David Washington). On television he is best known as Ted Marcus in In the Heat of the Night (1988–1994) (Howard Ellis, John Amos).