Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series '' Gotham'', as well as ''

Accepted ''Accepted'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink (in his directorial debut) and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Mark Perez. The plot follows a group of high school graduates who create their own fake college after bei ...

'' (2006), ''

Another Earth Another or variant may refer to: * anOther or Another Magazine, culture and fashion magazine * ''Another'' (novel), a Japanese horror novel ** ''Another'' (film), a Japanese 2012 live-action film based on the novel * Another River, a river in the ...

'' (2011), ''

Would You Rather "Would you rather" is a conversation or party game that poses a dilemma in the form of a question beginning with "would you rather". The dilemma can be between two supposedly good options such as "Would you rather have the power of flight or th ...

'' (2012), '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019) and ''You'' (2019).

Early life

Taylor was born in

Shueyville, Iowa Shueyville is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 731 at the time of the 2020 census. History Shueyville was founded in 1855 by Jacob Shuey, who emi ...

, to Robert Harmon Taylor and Mary Susan (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Stamy) Taylor. He attended

Solon High School Solon High School, founded in 1898, is a public high school located in Solon, Ohio, a southeastern suburb of Cleveland in the Northeast Ohio Region, the 15th largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States. It comprises grades 9 through 12, ...

and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Theatre in 2000. While at Northwestern, his roommate was actor

Billy Eichner Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...

Career

Taylor has appeared in several television series, such as '' The Walking Dead'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

'' and ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

''. He had a recurring role as "Darrell, the ''Late Show'' page with the fake British accent" on ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

''. He played Abernathy Darwin Dunlap in ''

''. He appeared in such independent films as ''

'', ''

Cold Comes the Night ''Cold Comes the Night'' is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Tze Chun, who co-wrote the script with Oz Perkins and Nick Simon. It was released on September 20, 2013, in the UK and on January 10, 2014 in the United States. The film st ...

'', and ''

'', the last of which won the

Alfred P. Sloan Prize The Alfred P. Sloan Prize is an award given each year, starting in 2003, to a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The prize is given to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathemati ...

at the 2011

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

. Taylor was featured in

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's segment "Jesus Children of America" of the 2005 anthology film on the theme of childhood and exploitation ''

All the Invisible Children ''All the Invisible Children'' is a 2005 anthology film on the theme of childhood and exploitation. It is a collection of seven short films, each focused on a different child. The film has a total runtime of 116 minutes, averaging 16 minutes ea ...

'' (

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

), '' The House is Burning'' (produced by

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docu ...

(

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

), ''Pitch'' (

), Kevin Connolly's ''

Gardener of Eden ''Gardener of Eden'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Kevin Connolly. It stars Lukas Haas, Erika Christensen and Giovanni Ribisi. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was Connolly's directorial debut. It was produc ...

'' (

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

) and ''

Assassination of a High School President ''Assassination of a High School President'' is a 2008 American neo noir comedy film directed by Brett Simon and starring Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Emily Meade and Michael Rapaport. It was written by Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubow ...

'' (

). Taylor co-created and co-starred in ''Creation Nation: A Live Talk Show'' with Billy Eichner, which they performed at the 2008

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, as well as at the HBO

Aspen Comedy Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

and throughout

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. He has also appeared onstage in ''Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom'', ''The Shooting Stage'', '' Henry IV'' and ''No. 11 Blue and White'', as well as numerous productions in

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

's Young Playwrights Festival at the

Cherry Lane Theater The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously running off-Broadway theater in New York City. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, N ...

. In February 2019, it was announced that Taylor had been cast in the recurring role of Will Bettelheim on the second season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

thriller series '' You''.

''Gotham''

Taylor was cast as Oswald Cobblepot in February 2014. His performance as Cobblepot has been described by ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' as a "standout performance of the first episode .. disarming and multilayered", by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' as "a passionate performance ...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

steals the show", and as "spectacularly cast as the Penguin".

Personal life

Since 2000, Taylor has lived in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where ''Gotham'' was filmed. In a November 2014 '' Glamour'' interview, Taylor was asked, "I notice you are wearing a wedding ring on your ring finger. Are you married?" To which he responded, "I am married! I like to keep it private, but I've been married for over three years, and we've been together for 5½ years. No kids. No kids yet!" In March 2015, ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' noted Taylor in an article discussing "Several actors who are openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

or who have been cast in multiple straight or

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

roles and the typecasting of gay roles". Taylor, himself, added: "I feel like the landscape has totally changed. Regardless of sexual preference, it's more that as a

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

, the less I reveal about myself, the better. My favorite actors are the ones I know least about." In April 2015, Taylor openly identified as gay on episode 672 of '' The Nerdist Podcast'' with

Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...

. In honor of

National Coming Out Day National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11, to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people ( the LGBT community, sometimes also called the queer community) in " coming out of the closet". Fir ...

in October 2019, Taylor revealed on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that he had been out as gay for 22 years and encouraged followers to donate to the non-profit

Rainbow Railroad Rainbow Railroad is a Canadian charitable organization that helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries. In the past, they have helped individuals fr ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Robin Lord 1978 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Scottish descent American gay actors LGBT people from Iowa Male actors from Iowa Northwestern University alumni People from Solon, Iowa 21st-century American male actors