This isn't what it looks like, I swear.
General Information
Name: Randolph (Randy) Curtis Bosch
Nicknames: Randy (given name), Spark Plug (by Tara)
Age: 32 -- born September 16, 1974
Played By: Hal Sparks (Queer as Folk, Talk Soup, Celebrity Duets)
Psychology
IQ: Average. He has more street smarts than book smarts, and is horrible at math. He does like to expand his education, and is incredibly culturally literate, but he fails at most things (like math and science) that involve hard logic and little room for creativity.
Phobias/Fears: Peter Frampton. He says Frampton's classic "Frampton Comes Alive" album "is to me what Yoko Ono is to most people: absolutely mortifying."
Religious Beliefs: Spiritual, but not religious. He's been turned off most organized religion by the conflicts and extremities and thinks that spiritual beliefs are an individual thing. He's not quite sure what he believes in, exactly, but he knows there's more than just what's in front of his face.
Nationality: American
Languages Spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese -- which he taught himself because "I was bored"; he quips that he did it so he could better understand martial arts films, but that's probably not true.
Intolerances/Annoyances: Absolutely hates being called by his full first name, Randolph (although his mother is the one person who can begrudgingly call him that); sort of tolerates Det. Tara Meredith's nickname for him, "Spark Plug" (a pun based on his last name, which is the same as a spark plug brand).
Quirks/Habits: Carries his guitar bag with him everywhere. Likes sub sandwiches. His hair always tends to look mussed. Drives a white Kia Spectra, a few years old. He also was probably dropped on his head as a child. Works at the same giant work table in the basement with a portable stereo, complete with iDock, every day. He finds organizing to be soothing and doesn't mind getting dirty. Hates driving in L.A. and therefore walks most places. Watches the news twice daily, morning and evening. He must also have a good memory, as he remembers birthdays and even what song was playing on the radio when he first met his best friend.
Family
Parents: His mother, Pauline, is still alive and living in Philly; he tells Tara that she only thinks he doesn't love her when she's reminded that he hasn't given her grandchildren and makes reference to her possibly beating him with a handbag. His father Ken is probably deceased, referred to in the past tense, but described as a working-class man who taught Randy how to be a real man. Randy has a great deal of respect for his father, and may be a little bit of a mama's boy.
Siblings: One kid sister, Haley, nine years younger. She thinks her big brother is a rockstar and used to hang out with him and his band when they were younger. Though she loves making him nuts, she does admire him and the two are pretty close. It's unknown what Haley is up to, though she may still be in school. We at least know she doesn't live in L.A. Randy is protective of his kid sister, as most big brothers are, and equally as proud of her. Obviously they came from a fairly stable family.
Spouse/Serious Lover: None
Children: None
Present Background
Occupation: Intern, Records and Identification Division, LAPD. The RID is part of the Information and Communications Services Bureau and provides support to all other divisions of the LAPD, especially the Detective Bureau. Randy works mostly with the Commercial Crimes Section (under Captain Chambers), especially the Property Crimes Division day squad headed by Lieutenant Brenda Cassaday. He seems to avoid working with Robbery Homicide Division because of the graphic nature of their cases. Randy actually has a desk in the RID but seems not to use it, preferring to work in the basement.
Previous Occupations: Unknown. He's been with the LAPD for the last six years (since 2000), but he would have graduated college in 1996, so he's obviously done something between 1996 and 2000, but we have no idea what that is. Randy left Lubbock for L.A. after he graduated, so it had to be something in Southern California.
Education: Texas Tech University - Lubbock, Texas
Major: B.A. in Social Work, with a minor in Music Composition.
Occupational Training: Basic LAPD entry-level training. He has never considered attending the academy and becoming a police officer, partly because he didn't expect to become involved with law enforcement, and because he considers himself an average white guy with not enough physical acumen.
Activities: Is a rock guitarist (he owns a Gibson Les Paul Goddess in Rose Burst, and has had the same guitar since he was sixteen), singer (he's been singing since he was six, and is a big Dennis DeYoung fan) and songwriter (he says maybe only one of every hundred songs he writes are actually good), and he, a friend of his, and a cousin have a band. He says he didn't play any kind of sport unless it had a controller.
Home: A one-bedroom, fourth-floor apartment in downtown L.A. (the Hollywood area) near the White Lotus sushi bar (1743 North Cahuenga Boulevard). From there, it's about a nine-minute drive to Parker Center (150 North Los Angeles Street). Of course, this isn't counting traffic, parking and the joy of L.A.'s many one-way streets at the city center. Randy says it normally takes him a half hour to get to work. (**The assumption is he lives at the historic Hillview Hollywood, but it's never been specifically mentioned.)
Friends: Has a sort of quirky friendship with junior Property Crimes detective, Tara Meredith (played by Maggie Lawson, "Psych"). Tara and Randy have known each other for five years, when she came down to the basement in search of a file when she was just a patrol officer, and this is her first year as a detective. Tara has one sister, Tracy, whom Randy has met and visited in the hospital when she was in a car accident. Somewhat amuses the divisional supervisor, Lieutenant Brenda Cassaday (Tamara Taylor, "Bones"). Randy is friends with a guy that lives in his building, British 'bloke' and architect Brendan Thompson ("Top Gear" presenter Richard Hammond).
Finances: Pretty average, working-class guy, though he's not rolling pennies for gas or anything. He lives comfortably but within his means; you won't see any exorbitant electronics here. The place is usually a little messy given that Randy is normally not home that often, staying late to work or simply to hang out in the basement and read through files, but in general order.
Appearance
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown, although it looks almost black sometimes, and has red highlights in.
Face & Complexion: He is white. So very white. Not deathly pale, but he's not that tan either.
Build: Average
Distinguishing Marks: He has a goatee and three earrings close together in his right ear.
Dress Style: Jeans, eccentric T-shirts (if he's not working; we know he owns at least a Halo 2 logo T-shirt) or button-downs, often in interesting colors (if he is), and a light windbreaker or suede jacket most of the time, plus he has a thing for wallet chains. He cleans up nicely, though, and when he does, he seems to like vests. Looks good in light colors and pastels.
Manner of Speech: Your average middle-class guy, with an extremely self-deprecating sense of humor, able to be deadpan where necessary and making some sly, culturally adept quips. He's an honest guy, though, not afraid to try and stand up for something -- even if he knows he'll probably lose. Sometimes he rambles, and he's not the most adept talker, but he can get his point across with his attitude.
Manner of Movement: He can be a little hyper, but is pretty laid-back otherwise. He leans on furniture, leans back in chairs, sits on the furniture not intended for such.
Romantic
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Past Relationships: As yet unknown.
Present Relationships: None and he's not really looking.
Personality Profile
Some people might call him boring. Others would call him quirky. Randy Bosch is just an average, down-to-earth, working-class guy living in the bright lights of one of America's biggest cities. Coming from a blue-collar family, he retains many of the sensibilities of his background. An easygoing, unassuming kind of guy, he's generally in a good mood and fairly laid back. Randy always seems possessed of an easy smile and a joke to break the ice -- even if it's not the best joke in the world. It's hard not to love him, with his attitude and his clean-cut, earnest appearance. Considerate and always around to pick you up, remember your birthday or call your mom to tell her you're okay, Randy is the kind of best friend you want to have. He's got the joie de vivre like he hasn't grown up from his twenties, but the intelligence of a real man, secure in who he is.
But another thing Randy has picked up from where he comes from is his working-class values and down-home virtues. He always has a shoulder ready for those who need somebody to cry to. He believes in hard work, honesty, manners -- he doesn't swear, smoke, drink or otherwise engage in vices other than chocolate -- and the right thing. He'd rather go and help a friend, even if he doesn't know what the hell they're doing, than wait in the car. He's somewhat of an old-fashioned traditionalist, and one of his biggest pet peeves is people who treat women badly. Even if he's not that tough, and he's scared and knows he'll lose, he'll still stand up for a woman's honor, which is one of the things that endears him to a lot of his female friends. Despite his old-fashioned sensibilities, Randy is his female friends' biggest cheerleader, and has an open mind. Unless it's about his friend Brendan making jokes about dating Randy's sister.
When things get serious, Randy gets serious too, and contemplative. He can be sometimes a private person. He doesn't like being the center of attention (he'll actually misdirect people to get attention away from himself), and sometimes needs his space and quiet to figure things out. He keeps most of his thoughts and opinions to himself, preferring not to make waves, and having a "live and let live" philosophy. He defers to others with more experience or authority. He sees himself as just an average, unremarkable guy, and doesn't give himself credit for some of his good qualities. For him, that's just the person he should be, and the job he should be doing, so there's nothing really special about it.
Deep Background
(still in development)
Born Randolph Curtis Bosch in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 16, 1974, Randy was the first child and only son for Pauline and Ken Bosch. Six years later, in 1982, his kid sister Haley was born. Coming from a working-class, blue-collar family where both parents worked, Randy says that he was taught early on about the things that helped to make him a real man, mostly from his father. He came from a stable family where things weren't always perfect or amazing but they were good. Randy helped out with family labor (he says he was always home in time to set the table for dinner) and when his father wasn't home, stepped up to become the man of the house, assisting his mother. That's a role that apparently has stuck with him, especially since with the death of his father he is the patriarch of the family.
Little is known about Randy's childhood. He was raised in a fairly traditional household, so he has a great deal of respect for his mother, and doesn't smoke, drink, do drugs, or curse. He apparently started singing when he was six. When he was sixteen he got his beloved guitar, and he was in a band with his brother and a cousin. His sister, who has a great deal of respect for her brother, used to hang out with them during practices and thinks her big brother is a rock star. Randy has a true talent for music and singing. When he was in high school, he actually attended a special admissions school called the Girard Academic Music Program where he could focus on his music as well as his studies. Randy worked hard in middle school to be good enough to get into GAMP. It was there that he learned to balance what he loved, with his cerebral interest and values of helping others. While he knows music is one of his true talents, he also knew that helping people was another, and looked for some way to make the two fit. He especially did well in history courses and began to see the possibility of maybe becoming a teacher.
Randy graduated high school in 1992. He'd decided that he wanted to go away to college in order to broaden his horizons and chose to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. While he makes many cracks about the differences between Lubbock and L.A. ("our idea of gangbangers was a herd of cows going in the wrong direction") its similarities to his own down-home background seemed to work for him. Randy continued to probe his cerebral interests and came out with a B.A. in Social Work, while keeping true to himself by minoring in Music Composition. Being true to himself was always one of his most important ideals. The way he saw it, he might be able to reach some people by being a working musician, but he could reach more with a service job and no one said he ever had to quit playing. In fact, he never intends to: his guitar is his most prized possession.
Upon graduation from Texas Tech in 1996, Randy wasn't sure what he was going to do next. He decided he'd go out to California and help tame the Wild West, but he didn't really have much of a plan. Somehow, after five years of testing the waters and seeing what the world held for him, he ended up applying at the LAPD and now works as an intern in the Records and Identification Division. While it's not a place he ever intended to be, it does seem like he's finally found a home.