Chad L. Coleman (born September 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing

Dennis "Cutty" Wise Dennis "Cutty" Wise is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Chad Coleman. Wise is a reformed criminal who sets up a boxing gym for neighborhood children. The name "Dennis Wise" was taken from an actual Baltimore c ...

on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'' (2004–08),

Tyreese Tyreese, later revealed as Tyreese Williams in the television series, is a fictional character from the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and was portrayed by Chad Coleman in the American television series of the same name. He is a prom ...

on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

series '' The Walking Dead'' (2012–15), Mingo on ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' (2016), Z on the FX sitcom ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

'' (2010–19), Fred Johnson on ''

The Expanse Expanse or The Expanse may refer to: Media and entertainment ''The Expanse'' franchise * ''The Expanse'' (novel series), a series of science fiction novels by James S. A. Corey * ''The Expanse'' (TV series), a television adaptation of the ...

'' (2015–20) and Klyden on ''

The Orville ''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century ...

'' (2017–present). He also voiced Coach in the video game ''

Left 4 Dead 2 ''Left 4 Dead 2'' is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. The sequel to Turtle Rock Studios's ''Left 4 Dead'' (2008) and the second game in the ''Left 4 Dead'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox ...

'' (2009).

Early life

Coleman was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. After being removed from neglectful parents in the Fairfield Court public housing project (one source says

Creighton Court Creighton Court is a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia's East End region. Creighton Court sits on the border between the City of Richmond and eastern Henrico County. The neighborhood is situated directly north of the Oakwood Cemetery and alongsi ...

), he was raised by a grandmother on Richmond's south side after some time in a foster home. As a youth, he participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, but turned his attention to drama after a leg injury. He attended

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

on a scholarship for his freshman year, before dropping out to serve in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. During his service, from 1985 to 1989, he worked as a video cameraman.

Career

Coleman had a starring role on the

series ''

'' as reformed criminal

. In 2002, Coleman starred as O. J. Simpson in TNT's television movie ''

Monday Night Mayhem ''Monday Night Mayhem'' is a 2002 television film about the origin of ABC's television series ''Monday Night Football''. It debuted on the U.S. cable TV network TNT on January 14, 2002. It was based on the 1988 nonfiction book of the same title b ...

''. Coleman also had a guest role in the '' Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles'' TV series on Fox. He also had a small role in '' Carlito's Way: Rise to Power''. Coleman was also involved with the development of ''

'', as a voice actor for the character Coach. In 2009, Coleman appeared in a revival of

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

's play ''

Joe Turner's Come and Gone ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play was first staged 1984 at the Eu ...

'' on Broadway and also had a starring role in the Norwegian TV series '' Buzz Aldrin, What Happened To You In All The Confusion?'', based on the novel by

Johan Harstad Johan Harstad (born 10 February 1979) is a Norwegian novelist, short story writer, playwright and graphic designer. He lives in Oslo. __TOC__ Writing career Fiction Harstad was born in Stavanger. He made his literary debut in 2001, with a collec ...

. The series aired in Europe in November 2011. He guest starred in the ''

In Plain Sight ''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, office ...

'' episode "

Whistle Stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

" as an ex-boxer/witness suffering from pugilistic dementia, and in the ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

'' episode " The Canary's Song" as a coal miner. He has also guest starred in five episodes of ''

'' between 2010 and 2019 as the character "Z". In 2011, he began playing Gary Miller, the ex-husband of Nikki Miller and father of manipulative daughter Mackenzie, in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television sitcom ''

I Hate My Teenage Daughter ''I Hate My Teenage Daughter'' is an American sitcom that ran on Fox from November 30, 2011 to March 20, 2012. It aired at the 9:30 pm (E/P)/8:30 pm (C) timeslot after ''The X Factor''. The series stars Jaime Pressly and Katie Finneran. On May 1 ...

''. From late 2012 to early 2015, Coleman played

's post-apocalyptic horror series '' The Walking Dead''. In the third season, Tyreese was a recurring character. Coleman was upgraded to series regular and main cast member at the start of the fourth season and retained this status for its fifth season until his character was killed off in the mid-season premiere. On November 20, 2014, he was announced to play Fred Johnson, a.k.a. "The Butcher of Anderson Station", a former Marine caught in a power struggle between Earth and Mars on the science-fiction series ''

''. Coleman also played Mingo in the 2016 re-imagining of ''

'', on the History Channel. Mingo is a stern, no-nonsense slave/cock trainer for Tom Lea, who keeps the Lea plantation afloat. He befriends Chicken George and they bond like father and son. Additionally, Coleman is executive producer, as well as visual inspiration for the character Mr. Osi of the futuristic graphic novel series
Treadwater
'. In 2016, he played the role of Tobias Church on ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

''. Currently, he is playing the recurring role of Klyden, Second Officer Bortus's mate, on ''

'', which debuted in the fall of 2017 and entered its second season at the end of 2018.

Personal life

Coleman was married to Sally Stewart from 1999 to 2010. On May 1, 2015, Coleman was recorded in the middle of a rant on New York City's 4 subway train. He stated that the rant was prompted by "built-up frustration" stemming from the

death of Freddie Gray On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African American, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department over his legal possession of a knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray sustained injuries and was taken to ...

. Later that year, he created a PSA with the non-profit organization Living Advantage about how people can help foster children besides adopting them.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Chad L. American male film actors Living people Male actors from Richmond, Virginia 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors United States Army soldiers African-American male actors American male television actors Virginia Commonwealth University alumni 1974 births American male video game actors American male voice actors Theatre World Award winners 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people