Wendell Pierce
Born
December 8, 1963 (61 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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 on both 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 include 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), on 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 won 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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Wendell Pierce, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Superman
Perry White
2025
Becoming Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (voice)
2022
Don't Hang Up
Chris Daniels
2022
Between the World and Me
Self
2020
Clemency
Jonathan Williams
2019
Burning Cane
Reverend Tillman
2019
Piercing
The Doctor
2019
27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon
Narrator (voice)
2018
One Last Thing
Dylan
2018
Rodents of Unusual Size
Narrator (voice)
2017
Bad Moms
Principal Daryl Burr
2016
Confirmation
Clarence Thomas
2016
Grease Live
Coach Calhoun
2016
The Runner
Frank Legrand
2015
The Gift
Detective Mills
2015
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
Andy Kirk (voice)
2015
Selma
Rev. Hosea Williams
2014
Elsa & Fred
Armande
2014
Foreclosure
Virgil
2014
Runaway Hearts
Paul
2014
Four
Joe
2013
Möbius
Bob
2013
Parker
Carlson
2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
J. Jenks
2012
Horrible Bosses
Detective Hagan
2011
The Mortician
Clinger
2011
Night Catches Us
David Gordon
2010
Love Ranch
Naasih Mohammed
2010
New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music
Narrator (voice)
2010
Beyond All Boundaries
Sgt. Thomas McPhatter
2009
The Wire Odyssey
Self
2007
Tapping the Wire
Self
2007
Pariah
Arthur
2007
Life Support
Slick
2007
I Think I Love My Wife
Sean
2007
Stay Alive
Detective Thibodeaux
2006
Ray
Wilbur Brassfield
2004
Land of Plenty
Henry
2004
A Hole in One
Dan
2004
The Fighting Temptations
Reverend Lewis
2003
Brown Sugar
Simon
2002
The Gilded Six Bits
Otis D. Slimmons
2001
Abilene
Reverend Tillis
1999
The 24 Hour Woman
Roy Labelle
1999
Bulworth
Fred
1998
The Advocate's Devil
Justin
1997
Sleepers
Little Caesar
1996
Get on the Bus
Wendell
1996
Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story
John Saunders
1996
Waiting to Exhale
Michael
1995
Hackers
S.S. Agent Richard Gill
1995
Bye Bye Love
Hector
1995
It Could Happen to You
Bo Williams
1994
Strapped
District Attorney
1993
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Policeman
1993
Malcolm X
Ben Thomas
1992
Unnatural Pursuits
Cabbie
1992
A Matter of Degrees
Wells Dennard
1991
The 10 Million Dollar Getaway
Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
1991
Family Business
Prosecutor
1989
The Money Pit
Paramedic
1986
King of the South
The Forever Tree
Doctor Willow
2017
The Thrill Is On
B.B. King
Highest 2 Lowest
Gabe
2025
Thunderbolts*
Congressman Gary
2025
Elsbeth
C.W. Wagner · (30 episodes)
2024
Sherri
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2022
Be My Guest with Ina Garten
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2022
Some Old Black Man
Calvin Jones
2021
The Watch
Death (voice) · (4 episodes)
2021
Harley Quinn
Lex Luthor (voice) · (2 episodes)
2019
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
2019
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
James Greer · (30 episodes)
2018
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Detective Lee Tucker · (1 episode)
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(1 episode)
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
2015
The Odd Couple
Teddy · (38 episodes)
2015
The Night Shift
Walt · (1 episode)
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (1 episode)
2014
Chicago P.D.
Ray Price · (9 episodes)
2014
The Michael J. Fox Show
Harris Green · (22 episodes)
2013
Ray Donovan
Ronald Keith · (1 episode)
2013
Lay the Favorite
Dave the Rave
2012
Suits
Robert Zane · (36 episodes)
2011
A Plea for Modernism
Narrator (voice)
2011
Treme
Antoine Batiste · (36 episodes)
2010
Archer
Verl (voice) · (1 episode)
2009
Drop Dead Diva
Neal David · (1 episode)
2009
Hawthorne
Dr. Michael Schilling · (1 episode)
2009
Fear Itself
Wiilbur Orwell · (1 episode)
2008
In Plain Sight
Dr. Warren McBride / Warren Morris · (1 episode)
2008
The Wire: The Last Word
Self
2007
2000: Bunk and McNulty
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland
2007
Women's Murder Club
(1 episode)
2007
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Detective · (1 episode)
2007
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Self · (4 episodes)
2006
Close to Home
(1 episode)
2005
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
Richard Link · (2 episodes)
2005
Numb3rs
(4 episodes)
2005
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self · (3 episodes)
2003
The Wire
Bunk Moreland · (60 episodes)
2002
My Wife and Kids
Dr. Boucher · (1 episode)
2001
The Weber Show
Wendell Simms · (17 episodes)
2000
Girlfriends
(1 episode)
2000
God, the Devil and Bob
Mike (voice) · (2 episodes)
2000
Third Watch
Officer Conrad 'Candyman' Jones · (5 episodes)
1999
Judging Amy
Harry Benton · (1 episode)
1999
The Brian Benben Show
(9 episodes)
1998
The Gregory Hines Show
(22 episodes)
1997
Moloney
Calvin Patterson · (21 episodes)
1996
New York News
(1 episode)
1995
New York Undercover
(1 episode)
1994
A Rage in Harlem
Louis
1991
Casualties of War
MacIntire
1989
Untitled Jack Ryan Film
James Greer
Law & Order
Roger Porter · (1 episode)
1990
Law & Order
Civil Rights Attorney Jerome Bryant · (1 episode)
1990
Law & Order
Ola-Gimju Nwaka · (1 episode)
1990
Law & Order
Mr. Wade · (1 episode)
1990
Capital News
Conrad White · (13 episodes)
1990
The Equalizer
Dr. Wolff · (2 episodes)
1985
Great Museums
(1 episode)