Gabriel's Fire: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Gabriel Bird was a large, intelligent black man with a thundering voice and a cross to bear. He had once been a Chicago cop. One fateful day in 1969, he was involved in a botched raid during which he was forced to shoot his white partner rather than allow the him to kill an innocent mother and child in cold blood. The jury considered this to be not an act of heroism but of murder and sent him to prison for life. After 20 years as a model prisoner, Gabriel came in contact with an aggressive attorney named Victoria, who was fascinated by his case and the many irregularities in his trial. Convinced he was innocent, she got him released but Gabriel found that life outside could be even tougher for an ex-con, especially since many on the police force still hated and distrusted him. He became a private investigator for Victoria - using to his advantage, the inside knowledge he had gained on the police force and in prison. Louis was Victoria's assistant and Empress Josephine was Gabriel's longtime friend and the proprietor of a cafe where Gabriel hung out.

Series details

• Title: Gabriel's Fire
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Thriller
• Premiere date: 1990-09-12
• Final broadcast date listed: 1991-06-06
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 15387
• IMDb ID: tt0098801
• TVDB ID: 75990

Cast and credited roles

• James Earl Jones — Gabriel Bird
• Laila Robins — Victoria Heller
• Madge Sinclair — Empress Josephine
• Dylan Walsh — Louis Klein

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1990-09-12; final listed air date 1991-06-06; episode order: 22.

Source and licence

Adapted from Gabriel's Fire on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.