Lawrence Gilliard Jr.

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Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
Lawrencegilliardjr.jpg
Gilliard Jr. in 2014
Born (1971-09-22) September 22, 1971 (age 52)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1989–present
Website LawrenceGilliardJr.com

Lawrence Gilliard Jr. [1] (born September 22, 1971) [2] is an American actor who has appeared in films, television series, and theatre. He portrayed D'Angelo Barksdale on the HBO drama series The Wire , a role which earned him critical acclaim. [3] He is also known for his role as Bob Stookey in the AMC horror drama The Walking Dead . He was in the cast of David Simon's HBO TV series The Deuce , which premiered in September 2017 and concluded in October 2019. Gilliard Jr. has had roles in movies such as Straight Out of Brooklyn (1991), Next Stop Wonderland (1998), and Gangs of New York (2002). [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Gilliard was born in New York City. [1] [2] He and his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when he was seven years old. [5]

Gilliard played clarinet and studied classical music at Baltimore School for the Arts. [6] Jada Pinkett Smith and Tupac Shakur were classmates of Gilliard at the Baltimore School of the Arts. [2]

After attending Juilliard School for three years as a clarinet performance student, [7] Gilliard decided to pursue acting instead of music. [2] He also studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The Acting Studio – New York, [8] [9] and the Stella Adler Conservatory. [10]

Career

Gilliard made his film debut playing the lead, Dennis Brown, in the 1991 independent film Straight Out of Brooklyn. [5]

Gilliard has appeared on numerous television crime dramas such as Law & Order , Homicide: Life on the Street , The Wire , New York Undercover , and CSI: NY . Film roles include a love-struck ghetto teen in LottoLand (1995), an earnest college football player in The Waterboy (1998), and a member of the Dead Rabbits in Gangs of New York (2002).

Gilliard is also a stage actor. He received positive reviews for his role of Booth in a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog . [11] [12] He joined The Walking Dead cast as a regular, playing Bob Stookey.

Personal life

As of 2008, Gilliard was married to Michelle Paress, who joined the cast of The Wire in its fifth season. [13] They divorced in 2020.

Filmography

Key
Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991 Straight Out of Brooklyn Dennis Brown
1993Fly By NightJed Lyte
The Pickle Boy Who Stopped
1995 Lotto Land Hank
Money Train Hood #3/Hood #1
1996 Trees Lounge James
The Associate Thomas, Plaza Bellhop
1997 White Lies Leon Turner / Leon Chame
1998 A Soldier's Sweetheart Shoeshine
The Substitute 2: School's Out Dontae
Next Stop Wonderland Brett
One Tough Cop Curtis Wilkins
The Waterboy Derek Wallace
1999 Simply Irresistible Nolan Traynor
Loving Jezebel Walter
2000 Cecil B. Demented Lewis
2001Home Invaders
Trigger HappyRay
2002 Gangs of New York Jimmy Spoils
2003 Kill the Poor Spike
2004 Brother to Brother Marcus
The Machinist Jackson
Woman Hollering CreekMelvinShort
2008TurnipseedJohnny Turnipseed
The Highs & Lows of Milo BrownElliotShort
2011 The Double Agent Burton
2012JuniorDet. Daniel Abrams Sr.Short
The Wire: The Musical D'Angelo Barksdale Short
The Trial of Ben BarryJuneShort
Would You Rather Dr. Barden
2013Turnipseed: Second ChanceJohn Turnipseed
2014 Walk of Shame Scrilla
2018 Hot Air Earl
2020 One Night in Miami... Drew Bundini Brown
2023 Big George Foreman Archie Moore
The Featherweight Sandy Saddler

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 In the Line of Duty: Street War WillTV movie
1993 Homicide: Life on the Street William LynessEpisode: "A Dog and a Pony Show"
ABC Afterschool Specials Episode: "Girlfriend"
Survive the NightTV movie
1993–1994 George Lathan Basmore9 episodes
1994 New York Undercover QuentinEpisode: "After Shakespeare"
1995InflammableWesley RainesTV movie
2000Sally Hemings: An American ScandalHenry JacksonTV movie
2002 Less than Perfect ChesterEpisode: "Kip Steadman's Guide to Dating"
2002–2003 The Wire D'Angelo Barksdale 18 episodes
2004 The Jury Corey HamiltonEpisode: "The Boxer"
2005 CSI: NY Officer Omar LillyEpisode: "Crime and Misdemeanor"
Law & Order: Criminal Intent Eddie RobertsEpisode: "Acts of Contrition"
2006 Numb3rs Amos ShabazEpisode: "Waste Not"
2008 Fear Itself JamesEpisode: "Spooked"
2009 The Beast Nick / Raymond Beaumont10 episodes
Trauma DukeEpisode: "Blue Balloon"
2010 Friday Night Lights EldenEpisode: "The Lights in Carroll Park"
The Boondocks 2nd Prisoner (voice)Episode: "A Date with the Booty Warrior"
Detroit 1-8-7 Lefty ReedEpisode: "Déjà Vu/All In"
Lie to Me Marcus WeaverEpisode: "Smoked"
2011PartnersDr. JTV movie
2012 Southland John's Sponsor2 episodes
Army Wives Marcus Williams7 episodes
2013 Longmire BurkeEpisode: "Unquiet Mind"
2013–2015 The Walking Dead Bob Stookey 20 episodes
2015 Graceland Deputy Agent Sean Logan6 episodes
Elementary Dr. Dwyer KirkEpisode: "The Eternity Injection"
The Good Wife Ken Boxer Jr.Episode: "Winning Ugly"
2017–2019 The Deuce Chris Alston25 episodes
2018 God Friended Me AaronEpisode: "Coney Island Cyclone"
2020 Bull Prosecutor BenjaminEpisode: "My Corona"
2021 Chicago P.D. Latrell WadeEpisode: "Equal Justice"
2021–2022 That Damn Michael Che Clarence2 episodes
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Azumadeen 'Deen' Tippett3 episodes
2023–2024 Law & Order Attorney Aaron Dressler2 episodes

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Miller, Matt; Gondelman, Josh; Gilliard, Jr., Lawrence (September 18, 2017). "Lawrence Gilliard Jr. of 'The Deuce' Explains the Tupac Connection on His Wikipedia Page". Esquire .
  3. Goodman, Tim (September 17, 2004). "Never mind who'll win the Emmys. Here's who deserves recognition". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  4. "James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal Star in HBO Drama Series "The Deuce," Created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, Debuting Sept. 10" (Press release). HBO. July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Charles, Nick (April 7, 1996). "Hats Off to Larry: Granny Was Behind Actor Larry Gilliard All the Way from Military School to Movie Sets". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  6. Woolever, Lydia; Souza, Gabriella (September 1, 2015). "Kwame Kwei-Armah and Lawrence Gilliard Jr". Baltimore .
  7. Lawrence Gilliard Jr. takes on a new role in AMC's 'The Walking Dead'
  8. "Alumni: Larry Gilliard – Actor". Baltimore School for the Arts. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  9. "The Acting Studio, Inc.: Alumni". Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  10. Roberts, Terri (March 11, 2004). "Doing the Hustle". Back Stage West . Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  11. Holder, Travis Michael (February 19, 2004). "Topdog/Underdog". Back Stage West. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  12. Harmanci, Reyhan (November 16, 2004). "Top Dog/Underdog: It's a dog eat dog world". SF Station. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
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