| “ | Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. | ” |
―Holt in "Game Night" | ||
Deputy Commissioner Raymond Jacob Holt (portrayed by the late Andre Braugher, 1962-2023) is a main character in all eight seasons of the show and the only character besides Jake Peralta to appear in every episode. He was the NYPD's first openly gay black police captain and Captain of the 99th Precinct for most of the show's run. In the penultimate episode of the series, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police Reform, heading the new unit in charge of the police reform program he developed with Amy Santiago.
He is the husband of Kevin Cozner, owner of the dog Cheddar, and father figure to Jake and Amy. Though he is often lampooned by his colleagues for his lack of displaying emotion or facial expressions, he is held in the highest regard by them and has developed close relationships with all of them. And despite his stoic nature, he is known to go above and beyond both personally and professionally for those he loves.
Physical Appearance
Holt is a tall, ageing dark-skinned man with thin grey hair. He is usually portrayed with a white shirt, black tie, the captain's insignia on both collars, with the NYPD's captain badge. When he was demoted to being an officer in Season 7, his collars had the number "99" on them to represent his precinct. He has 4 breast bars, which includes the WTC bar and the Medal of Valour. He is also sometimes shown with a black jacket and a captain's hat.
Personality
Outwardly, Holt is strict, hardworking, stoic, staunchly professional, and a stickler for the rules. Inwardly, he is a warm, empathetic, devoted, and kind-hearted man who cares deeply about the officers and employees under his command. He is shown to go above-and-beyond for the squad both personally and professionally.
Especially at the beginning of the series, he does not show much emotion, and finds it hard to connect to feelings, like Rosa. He does not understand pop culture references, often accidentally making them, or accidentally allowing the squad to reference them. He is shown to follow rules to a T and was called a robot by Jake, due to his nature. Holt gets along well with, and mentors Amy, as they similarly care about grammar and proper procedure, and dislike being corrected. He is often calm and collected but has been shown to get very angry when somebody hurts him, his friends, his husband, his dog, or his squad. We saw him at his most angry when it was suggested that someone with a Ph.D is not a doctor.
As the series progresses, while not becoming laid-back, he does smile more and can be found not only having fun, but at times indulging in more "childish" behavior. He is competitive, easily accepting Jake's Halloween Heist Plots, and loses any semblance of professionalism around his enemy Madeline Wuntch, oftentimes finding clever ways to snipe with her.
Biography
Holt's age and birthday have never been officially established, but he is described by Det. Peralta as being of "advanced age". He is from Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in an upper-middle-class household with his sister Debbie, his mother Laverne Holt—a judge on the ninth circuit court—and his unnamed father. An introverted child, Holt largely kept to himself and developed a personality similar to that of his mother.
When seven years old, he would sneak into his father's study and peek at his father's antiqued globes as a substitute for playing with toys. Holt also kept a diary in his youth. In Return of the King, he says that in grade school he wanted to spend his free time drawing graphs and charts, but his father never saw his potential and insisted he play basketball (based on his lack of knowledge about basketball it can be assumed that he never actually played).
When Holt grew up, he went on to join the NYPD around 1977 and was promoted to detective after 1 month. He came out as gay in 1987. As a black, gay police officer, Holt experienced an avalanche of discrimination, profiling, homophobia, and slander for many years but fought through it all anyway with his head held high and even went on to marry Kevin Cozner, a classics professor. In addition to decades of police work, during which time he arrested over six hundred people and caught a number of very high profile criminals (e.g. The Disco Strangler), Holt spent eight unhappy years in the public affairs office all the while fighting to become eligible for a command of his own. At another point, he worked with FBI Special Agent Bob Annderson and became good friends.
Throughout The Series
Season One
Holt got his long-time wish in 2013 when he was promoted to Captain and assigned to Brooklyn's 99th Precinct following the retirement of Capt. McGintley. Holt immediately made his presence felt on his first day by taking the brash Detective Jake Peralta down a peg and issuing new directives to restore some professionalism in the precinct. Having learned about his staff from Sgt. Terry Jeffords, Holt resolved to curtail some of Peralta's more childish habits, making him a better detective in the process and helping him become more mature, thereby making the 99th even better.
Season Two
In Beach House, he joins the squad at their "Detectives Only" getaway when Jake invites him out of guilt when he hears that Holt was never invited when he was a detective. At first, he brings down the mood and the squad attempt to host two parties with him, but by the end he is making fun of himself with the squad.
At the end of Johnny and Dora, he announces he is leaving the Nine-Nine, taking Gina along with him to fulfill his unwanted promotion to the Captain of Public Relations. He is replaced by Seth Dozerman.
Season Three
In New Captain, Holt's first duty is overseeing that the new mascot for NYPD gets named. He is later made to wear the suit by Wuntch. While at first, reluctant to take the position seriously, in Boyle's Hunch, with the help of Amy, he starts a campaign asking for advice from the citizens of Brooklyn to make the police department better.
In The Oolong Slayer, Jake Peralta bribes Chief Garmin into bringing him back to the Nine-Nine and resumes his position as Captain of the 99th Precinct.
FBI sting and witness protection
In Maximum Security, he helps the squad work on a plan to fake Adrian Pimento's death, and in Bureau contacts Annderson to help find the agent working as an informant for Jimmy Figgis, but is held hostage by Annderson (who is in fact one of Figgis' informants, having killed the other and been caught by Holt), until the 99 squad captures Annderson and get him to give up Figgis. However, a week after putting 75 of Figgis' henchmen behind bars, Figgis calls Jake from hiding and threatens him and Peralta. The two are forced into witness protection.
Season Four
In Coral Palms Pt. 1, Holt and Jake have been living in Florida in witness protection under the assumed guises of "Greg Stickney" (Holt) and "Larry Sherbet" (Jake) for the last six months without any contact with their friend and loved ones. Holt/Greg has taken a job at a local arcade/family fun center, but finds that Jake is still trying to track Figgis, wanting him to stop due to how dangerous it is for both of them. However, Holt eventually joins Jake in coming up with a plan to lure Figgis to them. However, their plan goes awry when they are arrested by the local sheriff for the number of guns they bought. The two eventually escape from custody by pretending to fight then kiss, but Holt is injured while running away due to falling on a piece of rebar in a junk pile. He removes the piece at Jake's hideout, but the injury forces him to rely on Gina's help once the rest of the squad reaches Florida. He and Gina eventually help stop Figgis at the fun center.
In The Night Shift, Holt is back on duty with the rest of the 9-9. However, due to their insubordination in heading down to Florida instead of staying in New York as ordered, they are all demoted to the night shift.
In Monster in the Closet, Amy assigns Holt the task of decorating Shaw's Bar for Rosa and Pimento's wedding and Holt reveals his passion for balloon arches.
In The Overmining, Holt and Jake work with the new daytime CO, Jason "CJ" Stentley, to bring down a major drug dealer, but are annoyed by Stentley's incompetence. Holt, while at first not wanting to do anything resembling sabotage, later calls several reporters to a ceremony for Stentley receiving a medal for it, knowing that their questions would make CJ look like a buffoon in front of everyone. The plan works, and Holt and the other 9-9 squad members are reassigned to the day shift.
Season Five
In 99, he is considered for promotion to the position of Commissioner, which he tries to sabotage because his secret dealing with gangster Seamus Murphy (by getting the information which freed Jake and Rosa from prison) compromised him. He is afraid of what he would demand once Holt is in such a high position. Jake, however, convinces him to go for it nonetheless and work out the problem with Murphy as a team. Through a spectacular show of knowledge on Amy's part, they manage to arrive just in time for Holt's interview.
Season Six
In The Suicide Squad, Holt appears to be serving a temporary sentence as a low-ranking patrolman by order of acting-Commissioner Wuntch after she finds out that he was promoted to detective without having served the correct amount of time as a regular officer beforehand. (It could be assumed that this temporary change was in return for Lt. Jeffords being allowed to stay at the Nine-Nine because Wuntch is Captain Holt's nemesis and would be unlikely to do him that favor without taking something in return).
Season Seven
In Manhunter, Holt adjusts to his new position as a uniformed officer and is put on a case with Jake and Charles as his superiors.
In The Jimmy Jab Games II, Holt competes with Rosa in the competition to win the day off so he can spend it with Kevin. However, after finding out Rosa broke up with Jocelyn, he throws the competition along with Rosa, and they are last seen sitting at the bar listening to death metal music.
In Ding Dong after Madeline Wuntch dies, the Chief of Personnel calls to let Holt know that he is going to be reinstated as Captain of the 99.
Season Eight
In The Good Ones, Holt was revealed to have separated with Kevin in 2020. However, they confessed they still had feelings for each other in The Lake House and get back together in Game of Boyles, remarrying in Renewal.
Trivia
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Quotes
Sal's Pizza
- Raymond Holt
Ding Dong
- Rosa Diaz
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
- Terry Jeffords
- Raymond Holt
- [Snaps fingers]
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
- Jake Peralta
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
- Raymond Holt
Videos
Images
This page contains images that feature the main character Raymond Holt
- See here for videos featuring the same character
- For behind the scenes images see Andre Braugher's Image Gallery
- See here for every image of Raymond Holt on this wiki
Behind The Scenes
From TV Guide's website in June 2013 The character was once going to be named "Bob Holt"