Wendell Pierce

Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained recognition portraying the role of Detective Bunk Moreland in the acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire from 2002 to 2008. His other notable television roles includes the trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme (2010–2013), James Greer in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018–2023), the attorney Robert Zane in Suits (2013–2019), and Clarence Thomas in Confirmation (2016). He earned Independent Spirit Awards nominations for his film roles in Four (2012) and Burning Cane (2019), which he also served as a producer. Other notable film roles include Malcolm X (1992), Waiting to Exhale (1995), Ray (2004), Selma (2014), The Gift (2015) and Clemency (2019). Pierce made his Broadway debut in John Pielmeier's 1985 play The Boys of Winter, followed by Caryl Churchill's Serious Money in 1988. As a theatrical producer, he earned a Tony Award for Best Play nomination for August Wilson's Radio Golf (2007), then winning for Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2012). He performed the lead role of Willy Loman in the revival of Death of a Salesman on the West End in London in 2019 and on Broadway in New York in 2022, for which he earned Laurence Olivier Award and Tony Award nominations. Early life Pierce was born in New Orleans, one of three sons of a teacher and a decorated World War II veteran who worked as a maintenance engineer. His father's segregated Army unit helped Marines win the Battle of Saipan in 1944. Pierce has said of his father's experience: "My father fought in World War II, loved this country when this country wasn't loving him back. My father fought in Saipan, came back, was awarded medals and were denied them by a white officer who said, no, not you, not your unit. There was nothing that this country was doing for him or to him that would make him love this country. And in spite of all of that, he gave us a love for country because of the values that we are aspiring to as a nation."Pierce was raised in the black middle-class community of Pontchartrain Park, the first African-American post-war suburb. His father, along with many other black veterans, moved into the neighborhood after returning home from the war. The neighborhood was wiped out during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, including Pierce's family home which was flooded by of water.