Biography
Wendell Edward PierceΒ (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained atΒ Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as aΒ character actorΒ portraying roles on both stage and screen. He first gained recognition portraying the role of DetectiveΒ Bunk MorelandΒ in the acclaimedΒ HBOΒ drama seriesΒ The WireΒ from 2002 to 2008.
His other notable television roles include theΒ trombonistΒ Antoine Batiste inΒ TremeΒ (2010β2013),Β James GreerΒ inΒ Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018β2023), the attorney Robert Zane inΒ Suits (2013β2019), andΒ Clarence ThomasΒ inΒ ConfirmationΒ (2016). He earnedΒ Independent Spirit AwardsΒ nominations for his film roles inΒ FourΒ (2012) andΒ Burning CaneΒ (2019), on which he also served as a producer. Other notable film roles includeΒ Malcolm XΒ (1992),Β Waiting to ExhaleΒ (1995),Β RayΒ (2004),Β SelmaΒ (2014),Β The GiftΒ (2015), andΒ ClemencyΒ (2019).
Pierce made hisΒ BroadwayΒ debut inΒ John Pielmeier's 1985 playΒ The Boys of Winter, followed byΒ Caryl Churchill'sΒ Serious MoneyΒ in 1988. As a theatrical producer, he earned aΒ Tony Award for Best PlayΒ nomination forΒ August Wilson'sΒ Radio GolfΒ (2007), then won forΒ Bruce Norris'sΒ Clybourne ParkΒ (2012). He performed the lead role ofΒ Willy LomanΒ in the revival ofΒ Death of a SalesmanΒ on theΒ West End in LondonΒ in 2019 and onΒ Broadway in New YorkΒ in 2022, for which he earnedΒ Laurence Olivier AwardΒ andΒ Tony AwardΒ nominations.
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Filmography (123)
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War
2026
They Fight
2026
Superman
2025
Thunderbolts*
2025
Highest 2 Lowest
2025
The American Revolution
2025
Elsbeth
2024
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022
Don't Hang Up
2022
Be My Guest with Ina Garten
2022
Sherri
2022
The Watch
2021
Between the World and Me
2020
Piercing
2019
Clemency
2019
Burning Cane
2019
Tamron Hall
2019
Harley Quinn
2019
27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon
2018
One Last Thing
2018
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
2018
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
2018
Rodents of Unusual Size
2017
The Forever Tree
2017
Grease Live
2016
Confirmation
2016
Bad Moms
2016
The Runner
2015
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
2015
The Gift
2015
Runaway Hearts
2015
The Odd Couple
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Elsa & Fred
2014
Foreclosure
2014
Selma
2014
Chicago P.D.
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
The Night Shift
2014
Four
2013
Parker
2013
MΓΆbius
2013
The Michael J. Fox Show
2013
Ray Donovan
2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
2012
Lay the Favorite
2012
The Mortician
2011
Horrible Bosses
2011
A Plea for Modernism
2011
Suits
2011
Night Catches Us
2010
New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music
2010
Love Ranch
2010
Treme
2010
Beyond All Boundaries
2009
Fear Itself: Something with Bite
2009
Drop Dead Diva
2009
Archer
2009
Hawthorne
2009
Fear Itself
2008
In Plain Sight
2008
Pariah
2007
The Wire Odyssey
2007
Tapping the Wire
2007
Life Support
2007
I Think I Love My Wife
2007
The Wire: The Last Word
2007
2000: Bunk and McNulty
2007
Women's Murder Club
2007
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
2007
Stay Alive
2006
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
2006
Numb3rs
2005
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
2005
Close to Home
2005
Land of Plenty
2004
Ray
2004
A Hole in One
2004
The Fighting Temptations
2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
Brown Sugar
2002
The Wire
2002
The Gilded Six Bits
2001
My Wife and Kids
2001
Girlfriends
2000
The Weber Show
2000
God, the Devil and Bob
2000
The 24 Hour Woman
1999
Abilene
1999
Third Watch
1999
Judging Amy
1999
Bulworth
1998
The Brian Benben Show
1998
The Advocate's Devil
1997
The Gregory Hines Show
1997
Get on the Bus
1996
Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story
1996
Sleepers
1996
Moloney
1996
Hackers
1995
Waiting to Exhale
1995
Bye Bye Love
1995
New York News
1995
It Could Happen to You
1994
New York Undercover
1994
Strapped
1993
Manhattan Murder Mystery
1993
Unnatural Pursuits
1992
Malcolm X
1992
A Matter of Degrees
1991
The 10 Million Dollar Getaway
1991
A Rage in Harlem
1991
Law & Order
1990
Capital News
1990
Family Business
1989
Casualties of War
1989
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
The Money Pit
1986
The Equalizer
1985
King of the South
The Thrill Is On
Tyler Perryβs Madeaβs Family Affair
Great Museums
English
EspaΓ±ol
Russian
