SGT. EDDIE GIBSON
Played by John
O'Donohue: Like a lot
of detectives close to retirement, Eddie was living the easy life on the
night tour of the 15th squad, shuffling papers and leaving the big
investigations to Sipowicz and company. He got a sympathy promotion to
first grade pay when he was about to go on medical leave to battle cancer,
but when he returned to active duty, Eddie decided to start taking his
career seriously again. He passed the sergeant's exam, and when Lt.
Rodriguez decided to retire, Eddie used his friendship with the head of
department personnel to take Tony's place as boss of the 15th squad.
Eddie's not very bright, but he's at least smart enough to recognize that
his charges know what they're doing, and has adopted a hands-off approach
to command. In his spare time, Eddie and his wife take in foster kids to
give back to the community.
John O'Donohue
Whether or not you believe that the fictional NYPD would entrust Eddie
Gibson with a position of authority, the real one did exactly that with
John O'Donohue, who spent 20 years on the job, including a stint as an
administrative lieutenant in the Midtown North precinct.
John became interested in acting midway through his police career because,
as he says, "I kind of saw it as a way to be able to vent my feelings."
He took acting classes and appeared in some Off-Off Broadway shows, and
shortly before retirement got a small role in the MTV special "Colin
Quinn: Back to Brooklyn," which was directed by a then-unknown Ben
Stiller.
When John moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to pursue acting
full-time, he discovered that Stiller had made the move himself to write
and star in "The Ben Stiller Show" for Fox. John was quickly added to the
cast, at first just to play Stiller's partner in a series of "Cops"
parodies but eventually branching into new territory, like a sketch where
he played a life insurance salesman who sold policies to Grateful Dead
fans.
John's two decades on the job made him a natural to play cops, which he
did on a variety of TV shows, including "Brooklyn South" from the "Blue"
producing team. They remembered him when they created the character of
Eddie Gibson, who was originally just a comic relief foil for Sipowicz.
And when Esai Morales decided to quit the show, the producers took a big
gamble by choosing O'Donohue to replace him.
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