Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce is an American actor and producer born December 8, 1963, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Raised in Pontchartrain Park, he studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and earned a Juilliard BFA in 1985. After stage and supporting screen work, Pierce broke through as homicide detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire. He reunited with creator David Simon as trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme, a role rooted in his hometown's culture and post-Katrina resilience. His later series include Suits, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Elsbeth, in which he plays NYPD captain C.W. Wagner. Onstage, Pierce won a Tony as a producer of Clybourne Park and earned Olivier and Tony nominations for playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. He later tackled Othello and portrayed Daily Planet editor Perry White in Superman, sustaining a career across television, film and classical theatre.