Richard Rossi (born March 2, 1963)[4] is an American filmmaker, actor,[5] writer, talk radio host,[6][7] musician,[8] and former evangelical minister.

[11] After one of his father's hospitalizations for manic depression,[20] Rossi landed in a surrogate family led by an evangelist who immersed him in Pentecostal preaching and outreach.

[41] In October 1994, Sherrie testified her husband was "not to blame"; a state court judge refused her request to void the order of protection.

[44][45] Over Rossi's wife's objections, prosecutors charged him with attempted murder and won a court ruling admitting her earlier testimony at trial.

Though his followers wanted him to fight what his wife called an "assault of justice", Rossi stated he pled nolo contendere to end the ordeal.

[49] He received a four-to-eight-month sentence in Butler County Jail plus four years probation and required domestic violence counseling; he served 96 days.

[50] Rossi wrote an apologetic letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette saying: "I repent of the sins I have committed and, with God's help, do not plan to repeat them.

[51][55] In 1996, Sherrie self-published Assault of Justice: The Richard Rossi Mystery, defending her husband and proclaiming his innocence, and claiming that charges were retaliation for exposing police corruption and a satanic cult on his talk radio show.

Rossi enrolled in a recovery program in jail that he continued after his release, including meetings four days a week, daily monitoring, and treatment in Atlanta.

[58][59][60] After his release from jail, Rossi and his wife hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless at the Ranch House in Pittsburgh's North Park.

[65] He returned to preaching, serving as a pastor and church consultant, and moved into acting and filmmaking to explore his interest in creative and cutting-edge expressions of ministry.

[24][72][73] He was protested by followers of Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, who decried his lenient attitude toward homosexuals.

It attracted a record crowd to Hollywood's New Beverly Cinema, a revival house specializing in independent and cult films owned by Quentin Tarantino.

[16][18][74] A group of Evangelicals offered to invest $2 million in the film, but with conditions that the movie did not depict McPherson's divorce or drug overdose and that the actor playing the lead be a Pentecostal Christian.

[24][75] In addition to his film work, Rossi acted on stage in plays and musicals to positive reviews, remaining active in the Los Angeles theater community.

[89][90][91][92] The feature film was a labor of love for Rossi and the cadre of actors and technicians who volunteered their time and donated their services to the project.

Rossi's telling of Clemente's story of commitment, loyalty, and devotion attempts to provide a counterpoint to today's baseball culture of players suspected of steroid abuse.

"[101][103][104] Some claim the canonization church requirement of a miracle was met on July 22, 2017, when Jaime Nieto, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a backflip accident three years after the Clemente film was released, walked 130 steps at his own wedding to fellow Olympian Shevon Stoddart.

Rossi wrote and recorded a protest song expressing his feelings about a grand jury's decision not to charge a white police officer in the death of the unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri.

Here is a sample from the song's beginning, printed in the Los Angeles Daily News: "Down at the courthouse on a Monday afternoon/Justice was thrown right out the window when a young white cop entered the room.

In 2015, the format of the program changed from its Christian roots on WPIT, a Salem Radio Network station, by broadening its content for a general audience.

[121][122] On January 31, 2018, Rossi and his family, in tandem with Pittsburgh Police, offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) who gave his brother the fatal fentanyl dose.

[123] In May 2019, Rossi and other actors performed monologues based on interviews with homeless people as part of Homeward L.A., an effort to raise money for the Midnight Mission, a Los Angeles skid row shelter.

[124][125] Rossi has also co-written a children's book Lucy & the Lake Monster, with retired fourth grade school teacher Kelly Tabor.

[126] It tells the story of a 9-year-old orphan girl and her grandfather searching for Champ, the legendary sea serpent of Lake Champlain.