Norman Wilson is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

on the HBO drama ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama 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 Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

'', played by Reg E. Cathey. Wilson is a professional political operative and works closely with ambitious politician

Tommy Carcetti Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti ( ) is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious and venal Baltimore politician who begins the series with a seat on the city council. Biography Season 3 To ...

. The character first appeared in the show's fourth season premiere " Boys of Summer" and Cathey is part of the starring cast for the fourth and fifth seasons.

Biography

Wilson is a professional political operative. He was previously a night editor at ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' and was much loved by his reporters. He has a professional, savvy and honest presence. He grew up in Catonsville, a southwestern

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

suburb of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Season four

Wilson serves as Councilman

's deputy campaign manager in his run for Mayor of Baltimore, under campaign manager Theresa D'Agostino. He is an honest voice in Carcetti's campaign and is often the sounding board for Carcetti's worries about race in Baltimore politics. When the poll results do not go in Carcetti's favor, Carcetti assumes he will lose and becomes uninterested in the campaign. Wilson is left to keep his candidate on track despite his pessimism. After Carcetti wins the Democratic primary and subsequent election, Wilson continues to serve as Carcetti's right-hand man, accompanying the newly elected Mayor everywhere he goes. Wilson becomes disillusioned with Carcetti when he puts his own ambition above the needs of the city. He talks with

Clarence Royce Clarence V. Royce is a fictional character in the HBO series ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'' played by Glynn Turman. Season 3 Clarence V. Royce is the Mayor of Baltimore whose first appearance is at the demolition of the Franklin Terrace hou ...

's former advisor, Coleman Parker, and muses about managing the campaign of another up-and-coming politician on the

Eastern Shore of Maryland The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula tha ...

Season five

Despite his misgivings, Wilson remains on Carcetti's staff as the Mayor struggles with a budget crisis while planning his run for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Carcetti is aware of Wilson's feelings about his decision but still seeks his counsel. When BPD Commissioner

Ervin Burrell Ervin H. Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of th ...

delivers altered crime rate statistics, Carcetti seizes his chance to fire him and hopes to eventually replace him with

Cedric Daniels Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Lance Reddick. Daniels is well regarded in the Baltimore Police Department by making his subordinates focus on decent police work and quality arrests. He occasionall ...

; Carcetti instructs Wilson to leak the story to test the waters. Wilson contacts

Gus Haynes Augustus "Gus" Haynes is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Clark Johnson, who is also a director for the series. Haynes is the dedicated and principled editor for ''The Baltimore Sun'' city desk. Character depic ...

, a friend from ''The Sun'', and gives him the details along with a photograph of Daniels. When the truth of

Jimmy McNulty James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish-American detective in the Baltimore Police Department. While talented in his profession, McNulty's c ...

's "homeless killer" is revealed, Wilson expresses a forlorn wish that he was still a journalist at ''The Sun'' "so I could write on this mess. It's too fucking good." He is present when Carcetti wins the gubernatorial election and becomes governor of Maryland.

References

{{The Wire Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman Wilson, Norman