Brenda Leigh Johnson (2024)

FAQs

How was Brenda written out of The Closer? ›

In the end of The Closer, due to her efforts to capture Phillip Stroh leading her to assault him, Brenda, knowing she will lose her job, leaves the LAPD and gets a new job as Chief at the District Attorney's Office's Bureau of Investigation.

But in terms of the character herself, apart from her romance with Fritz, that sentiment also extends to the star's snack food of choice throughout The Closer's run: the humble Ding Dong.

In the end, it was Brenda's exemplary ability to do her job that prompted Sedgwick to give up hers. That is, the rock-steady stream of murders to be investigated — and almost unerringly solved, within an episode's frame — left the actress itching to do more.

In season 7, it is revealed that Gabriel's girlfriend is the mole feeding inside information about Major Crimes to defense attorney Peter Goldman.

Dialogue in later episodes shows that the two remain married and that Brenda remained in Los Angeles with Fritz.

Well, the mole was revealed in the secondto- last episode, titled “Armed Response.” It was Ann Mason (Shanti Lowry), the girlfriend of Det. Sgt. David Gabriel (Corey Reynolds). And Brenda didn't leave her job – she became the chief investigator at the DA's office, accompanied by Gabriel.

Try to come between Kyra Sedgwick and her sugar fix and she'll read you your rights. Just like L.A. Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, her character on TNT's "The Closer," Sedgwick has never met a snack cake or piece of chocolate she didn't like.

Brenda and Fritz later become involved and eventually marry. In 2012, Deputy Chief Johnson retired from the LAPD and took a job as Chief of the Los Angeles County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation.

She dies near the end of Season 7 after asking to tell Brenda something that she dies before she can express. Brenda is left devastated by her death and the fact that she brushed her mother off and so would never know what she had wanted to say.

It just felt like time, mostly for me as an artist, time for me to do something else. There really wasn't an epiphany. It was just the idea of doing a Season 8 I think felt daunting to me and overwhelming, and sort of just didn't feel right. I think as an actor you really kind of just have to follow your instincts.

What happened to the real kitty on The Closer? ›

The cat that played 'Kitty' was diagnosed with a serious kidney condition. Rather than replace the cat, it was decided to write the illness into the story. The real cat died shortly after this episode was filmed.

It's a delicate, emotional two-step in which Kyra Sedgwick ends her role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on The Closer, just in time for former co-star Mary McDonnell to take over as Capt. Sharon Raydor on a new show also featuring all but three characters from Sedgwick's series.

Throughout the investigation, Rayder was convinced that there was an information leak in the department, something that Brenda refused to accept despite the overwhelming evidence. After the case was resolved, it was revealed that leak was- indirectly — Sgt. Gabriel (Corey Reynolds).

That's because it was his girlfriend Ann who was the true leak. In fact, her entire relationship with him had been orchestrated solely so she could get information.

In the end of The Closer, Gabriel is transferred to the D.A.'s Office's Bureau of Investigation to act as liaison officer to the LAPD when Brenda Leigh Johnson becomes its Chief. Before this, Gabriel is clearly distrusted by the squad due to his inadvertently acting as the leak.

Fritz notices that the results are for Brenda and personally delivers them. Brenda and Fritz later become involved and eventually marry. In 2012, Deputy Chief Johnson retired from the LAPD and took a job as Chief of the Los Angeles County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation.

He reveals the claim has been dropped from $20,000,000 to a mere $500,000 and that the Baylor family will drop their claim against Brenda in exchange for her admitting she felt indifferent to his death.