Wendell Pierce (1962)

 life and career

Pierce was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended Benjamin Franklin High School.

 Television acting career

Pierce starred in all five seasons of the HBO drama The Wire as Detective Bunk Moreland. He was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 2007.

Pierce also played a crooked policeman on Third Watch named Conrad "Candyman" Jones. Outside of shooting The Wire, Pierce managed to pick up a recurring role as an FBI clinical psychologist in Numb3rs. An interview with him is featured in Spike Lee's 2006 HBO documentary When the Levees Broke, regarding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His latest role is in HBO's Treme, created by David Simon, creator of The Wire. Pierce plays Antoine Batiste, a trombone player, for which he took lessons in trombone.

 Film acting career

Pierce appeared in Spike Lee's 1996 film Get on the Bus, and Forrest Whitaker's Waiting to Exhale a year earlier. He also appeared with Whitaker as an undertaker's assistant in the 1991 film "A Rage In Harlem", and had a small role in the 1998 film Bulworth. Pierce also had a part in the 1996 film Sleepers, playing Rizzo's older brother, Little Caesar. In addition, Pierce played Secret Service Agent Richard Gill in the 1995 film Hackers and co-starred with Arye Gross in the film A Matter of Degrees released in 1990. Pierce is also in the 2003 film The Fighting Temptations as Reverend Lewis, and 2006 horror film Stay Alive. He played Slick in the 2007 film Life Support; Slick is the HIV positive husband of the main character Ana . The film was co-written by Jim McKay, who has directed for The Wire, and was distributed by HBO. In May 2010, Pierce earned the lead role in the independent horror-thriller film Foreclosure.
Pierce also played band manager Wilbur Brassfield in the 2004 Oscar Award winning blockbuster Ray, with Jamie Foxx.

 Radio presence

Pierce is the host of the Peabody Award-winning radio program, Jazz at Lincoln
Center, which features live recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center's House of
Swing. Previous hosts of JALC include Ed Bradley and Wynton Marsalis, with whom he attended high school in New Orleans. Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio is produced by .