Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman.[1] 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.
Wendell Pierce was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of three sons of a teacher and a decorated World War II veteran who worked as a maintenance engineer.[2] 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."[3]
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 14 feet (4.3 m) of water.[4][5]
Pierce graduated in 1981[6] from both Benjamin Franklin High School[7] and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (most NOCCA students attend traditional secondary school in the mornings and the arts school in the afternoons). In 1981, Pierce was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts.[8] As a young actor, he appeared in The Winter's Tale at the Tulane Shakespeare Festival. He produced and hosted Think About It, a youth-themed talk show, for the local NBC affiliate station, and also hosted a weekly jazz show on WYLD-FM Radio called Extensions from Congo Square.[9]
Pierce worked on the HBO dramas The Wire and Treme. When first cast in The Wire, Pierce and his castmates doubted the show would be a hit: "I remember the first time we all sat around and watched the pilot. We all turned to each other and said, 'Man, I don't think this shit is going anywhere.'"[12] For his role in Treme, Pierce learned to play the trombone, though he relied on "sound double" Stafford Agee of the Rebirth Brass Band.[4] Agee played off-camera for Pierce, syncing his trombone with Pierce's motions for authenticity.[13]
Pierce was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for his portrayal of Joe, a married and closeted gay man who steps out on his family with a young white man he met online, in Four. The film was released on September 13, 2013, around the same time that The Michael J. Fox Show debuted on NBC, in which Pierce played Michael J. Fox's character's boss until the show's cancellation some five months later.[15][16]
Pierce is also a theater producer, and produced the Broadway show, Clybourne Park. The show was nominated for four Tony Awards; and won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2012.[20] In 2015, Pierce returned to the stage to star in the Billie Holiday Theatre production of Jackie Alexander's Brothers from the Bottom in New York.[21]
In 2019, Pierce starred in the acclaimed Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic Theatre in London and its successful transfer to the West End.[22] For this performance, he received a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor.[23] The show made its Broadway transfer in 2022, returning with Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke, as well as Andre De Shields. In December 2022, on one of the nights of its production run, a woman disrupted the beginning of Act 2, shouting at the stage. Pierce tried to calm her down from the stage, and reportedly was patient in his attempts to calm her down. She was eventually escorted out of the building by authorities and the play's producers issued a statement writing, "We're grateful to the entire team at the Hudson Theatre for working together to resolve the situation and resume the performance as quickly as possible."[24] Videos of the event and Pierce's attempts to reason with the patron went viral online.[25][26] Pierce received a Tony Award nomination for the production.[citation needed]
Radio
In 2009, Pierce became the host of the nationally syndicated, Peabody Award-winning radio program, Jazz at Lincoln Center, which featured live recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center's House of Swing.[citation needed]
Music
In 2016, Pierce started appearing on several albums recorded in New Orleans. He recorded the song "Make America Great Again" with Delfeayo Marsalis in 2016, one song with Kermit Ruffins on Irvin Mayfield's 2017 album, A Beautiful World, and one with Stanton Moore on his 2017 album, With You In Mind.[citation needed]
Pierce considers himself a "true capitalist" and a "classic entrepreneur".[4][5]
In 2013, Fast Company named Pierce one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business".[27]
Non-profit work
Pierce started the non-profit, Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corp. to build new affordable solar and geothermal homes in the area for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.[28]
Sterling Farms
Inspired in part by Michelle Obama's initiative to bring more supermarkets to food deserts where residents lack easy access to fresh produce, Pierce, along with partners Troy Henry and James Hatchett, started a chain of grocery stores named Sterling Farms in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans in 2012.[12] The chain however closed thirteen months later.[29] Sterling Farms also had a convenience store division called Sterling Express. The stores were named after Sterling Henry, his business partner's father who ran a pharmacy for about 40 years in the Lower Ninth Ward.[30]
On Sunday, May 15, 2016, Pierce was arrested and charged with simple battery for an alleged attack against a female Bernie Sanders supporter outside Atlanta Loews Hotel. He was booked and released on $1,000 bond from Fulton County Jail.[38][39] Pierce subsequently completed a pre-trial diversion program, including counseling and community service resulting in dismissal of the charge.[40]
^"Board of Directors". Alliance for a Healthier Generation (via Wayback Machine). Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
