28 Facts About David Rossi

David Stephen Rossi is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Joe Mantegna.

David Rossi is a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and has appeared from the episode "About Face", which was originally broadcast on October 31,2007, during the show's third season.

David Rossi is portrayed as a younger man by Robert Dunne, in flashbacks as a Marine infantry private in Vietnam in 1969 and in his earlier years with the BAU in 1978.

David Rossi is shown to be a close friend and colleague of Aaron Hotchner, as they worked together during the early days of the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

David Rossi is a writer and one of the team's senior and most decorated profilers.

David Rossi replaced Jason Gideon, who was written out following Mandy Patinkin's abrupt departure from the series.

David Rossi was born and raised on Long Island, New York, in the town of Commack.

David Rossi was close with Ray Finnegan, who eventually grew up to be a prominent local mobster.

David Rossi avoided the lure of organized crime, and enlisted in the Marine Corps.

David Rossi admits in season 9, while interrogating a suspect, that when he was a teenager, he stuffed a Black teammate on his baseball team into a locker and urinated on him because of peer pressure from his other, white teammates.

David Rossi says he has felt ashamed of it ever since, and that he considers it the worst thing he ever did.

David Rossi served in the Vietnam War and rose to the rank of sergeant major before retiring from the Marine Corps; based on the backstory timelines, specifically the time in service required to rise to the rank of sergeant major and retire, he presumably served in the Marine Corps Reserve after joining the FBI.

David Rossi subsequently cut most ties with his former life, not even returning to Commack for Emma's funeral in early 2009.

David Rossi has had an illustrious FBI career and enjoys a sterling reputation, even outside the BAU confines.

David Rossi has a romantic relationship with BAU Bureau Chief Erin Strauss, hinted at throughout the series starting late in season 7.

The full details of the affair are never disclosed, but he reveals his feelings for her when she is murdered by serial killer John Curtis, aka "The Replicator"; upon learning of her death, the usually unflappable David Rossi becomes deeply emotional.

In contrast to Hotchner and Gideon, David Rossi is decisively extroverted, abrasive, and much less cerebral, though still highly intelligent and disciplined.

David Rossi seems to favor less polished, more traditional police methods in profiling and interrogation - for example, he has no idea what a PDA is.

David Rossi's wealth is indicated by Rossi's favorite type of shoe, and an Italian Renaissance artwork he has in his office.

Also in season seven, David Rossi makes his wealth apparent when the team coerces him to bankroll a sting at a poker tournament rather than going through FBI channels for funding.

David Rossi was in early retirement until his voluntary return to the BAU in 2007, replacing Jason Gideon.

David Rossi had retired in order to write books and go on lecture tours, but he returned to "settle some unfinished business".

David Rossi revealed to a local sheriff his reason for returning to the BAU, holding out a charm bracelet with the names of three children from one of his first cases.

David Rossi returned the house to the children, with the request that they use the proceeds to better their lives.

David Rossi even proposes a toast with Hotchner, to commemorate Prentiss and Hotchner's deceased wife Haley.

David Rossi meets him to let him know that she is returning to the team.

In season seven, David Rossi is just as surprised as the others to learn that Prentiss is alive.

In "Profiling 101", convicted serial killer Tommy Yates boasts to David Rossi about killing and mutilating a total of 101 women and gives him a list of 40 victims' names.