Wendell Pierce facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wendell Pierce
Pierce in 2022
Born	Wendell Edward Pierce (1962-12-08) December 8, 1962 (age 62) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Education	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor businessman
Years active	1985–present

Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. He studied acting at the Juilliard School. Pierce became well-known for playing Detective Bunk Moreland in the HBO TV show The Wire from 2002 to 2008.

He also had important roles in other TV shows. These include Antoine Batiste in Treme (2010–2013), James Greer in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018–2023), and Robert Zane in Suits (2013–2019). Pierce has also acted in many movies like Malcolm X (1992), Ray (2004), and Selma (2014).

Pierce first performed on Broadway in 1985. He has also produced plays and won a Tony Award for Best Play in 2012 for Clybourne Park. In 2019 and 2022, he played the main role of Willy Loman in the play Death of a Salesman in London and New York.

Early Life and Education

Wendell Pierce was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was one of three sons. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a decorated World War II veteran. His father's Army unit helped win the Battle of Saipan in 1944. Pierce shared that his father loved the country even when it didn't treat him fairly.

Pierce grew up in Pontchartrain Park, a community for African-American families after the war. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed his family home. It was flooded by 14 feet of water.

Schooling and Early Acting

Pierce graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 1981. He also attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In 1981, he was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts. As a young actor, he performed in The Winter's Tale. He also hosted a youth talk show and a jazz radio show.

From 1981 to 1985, Pierce studied at the Juilliard School, a famous arts school. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree there. In May 2023, Juilliard gave him an honorary doctorate.

Acting Career

Pierce started his TV career on the HBO series Vietnam War Story in 1987. He later appeared in The Equalizer.

Famous TV Roles

Pierce worked on two popular HBO dramas, The Wire and Treme. When he first joined The Wire, he and his co-stars didn't think the show would be a big hit. For his role in Treme, Pierce learned to play the trombone. He even had a "sound double" who played off-camera to make his performances look real.

In 2012, he played J. Jenks in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. From 2015 to 2017, Pierce starred in The Odd Couple on CBS. He played the role of Teddy.

Stage Performances

Pierce has performed in many plays. He was praised for his role in Queenie at the Kennedy Center. He has been on Broadway in plays like The Piano Lesson and Serious Money. He also performed off-Broadway in The Cherry Orchard and Waiting for Godot.

Pierce is also a theater producer. He produced the Broadway show Clybourne Park, which won a Tony Award in 2012. In 2019, he starred in Death of a Salesman in London, earning an Olivier Award nomination. The show moved to Broadway in 2022. During one show, a woman disrupted the performance, and Pierce tried to calm her down. Videos of this event became very popular online.

Radio and Music

In 2009, Pierce became the host of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a radio show that plays live jazz recordings. He has also recorded songs with famous New Orleans musicians like Delfeayo Marsalis and Wynton Marsalis.

Business and Community Work

Wendell Pierce sees himself as a "true capitalist" and an "entrepreneur." In 2013, Fast Company magazine named him one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business."

Helping His Community

After Hurricane Katrina, Pierce started a nonprofit group called Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corp. This group helps build new, affordable, and energy-efficient homes for families who lost their houses in the hurricane.

In 2012, Pierce also started Sterling Farms, a chain of grocery stores in New Orleans. He was inspired by Michelle Obama's idea to bring fresh food to areas that don't have many grocery stores. The stores were named after his partner's father, who ran a pharmacy for many years.

Personal Life

Pierce divides his time between Los Angeles, New York City, and New Orleans. He is a big fan of the New Orleans Saints football team, and locals call him "Saints Wendell." He is also a Catholic.

Pierce has been involved in politics. He supported Hillary Clinton and was on the board of a health campaign created by the Clinton Foundation. He also helped raise money for President Barack Obama's campaign in 2012.

Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Money Pit	Paramedic
1989	Casualties of War	MacIntire
	Family Business	Prosecutor
1990	A Matter of Degrees	Wells Dennard
1991	A Rage in Harlem	Louis
1992	Malcolm X	Ben Thomas
1993	Manhattan Murder Mystery	Policeman
1994	It Could Happen to You	Bo Williams
1995	Bye Bye Love	Hector
	Hackers	Secret Service Agent Dick Gill
	Waiting to Exhale	Michael Davenport
1996	Sleepers	Eddie "Little Caesar" Robinson
	Get on the Bus	Wendell
1998	Bulworth	Fred
1999	The 24 Hour Woman	Roy LaBelle
	Abilene	Reverend Tillis
2001	The Gilded Six Bits	Otis D. Slimmons	Short film
2002	The Date	Naive Man	Short film
	Brown Sugar	Simon
2003	The Fighting Temptations	Reverend Lewis
2004	A Hole in One	Dan
	Land of Plenty	Henry
	Ray	Wilbur Brassfield
2006	Stay Alive	Detective Thibodeaux
2007	I Think I Love My Wife	Sean
	Pariah	Arthur	Short film
2009	Beyond All Boundaries	Sergeant Thomas McPhatter (voice)	Short film
	The Storm Inside	The Narrator	Documentary
2010	Night Catches Us	David Gordon
	Love Ranch	Naasih Mohammed
	The Big Uneasy	Himself (narration)	Documentary
2011	The Mortician	Wendell Simms
	Horrible Bosses	Detective Hagan
2012	Lay the Favorite	Dave "The Rave"
	Four	Joe
	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2	J. Jenks
2013	Parker	Carlson
	Möbius	Bob
2014	Foreclosure	Virgil
	Elsa & Fred	Armande
	Selma	Hosea Williams
2015	Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band	Andy Kirk (voice)	Documentary
	Runaway Hearts	Paul
	The Gift	Detective Mills
	The Runner	Frank Legrand
2016	Bad Moms	Principal Daryl Burr
2017	The Forever Tree	Dr. Willow	Short film
	Rodents of Unusual Size	The Narrator	Documentary
218	Piercing	Doctor
	One Last Thing	Dylan Derringer
2019	Clemency	Jonathan Williams
	Burning Cane	Reverend Tillman	Also producer
2022	Don't Hang Up	Chris Daniels
2025	Thunderbolts*	Congressman Gary
	Highest 2 Lowest	Gabe
	Superman	Perry White
rowspan="2" 0TBA	Untitled Jack Ryan film	James Greer	Filming
King of the South	Percy Miller Sr.	Post-production

Television Roles

Theatre Roles

See also

In Spanish: Wendell Pierce para niños

• African-American Tony nominees and winners