Johnny Weeks is a fictional character 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 ...

drama series ''

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, ...

'', portrayed by

Leo Fitzpatrick Leonardo Aurellio Randy Fitzpatrick is an American actor and co-director of the Marlborough Chelsea gallery. He is best known as Telly in ''Kids'' (1995) and Johnny Weeks in ''The Wire'' (2002–2004). Career He was discovered at age 14 by d ...

. A

heroin addict Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

, he commits a series of petty crimes to afford his habit, along with fellow addict Bubbles.

Biography

Season 1

In season 1, Johnny is Bubbles' best friend and a drug addict with notoriously bad luck. He is naive and enthusiastic for "the game", and allows Bubbles to play the role of teacher. In the pilot episode Johnny is badly beaten by

Bodie Broadus Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a rough, low-level drug dealer, but matures throughout the series and slowly rises through the ranks. Bodie ...

Poot Carr Malik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot starts out as a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks. He eventually ends up leaving the drug t ...

, and other dealers after trying to pass counterfeit money to

D'Angelo Barksdale D'Angelo "Dee" Barksdale (c.1978-79 - July 21, 2003) is a fictional character on the HBO drama '' The Wire'', played by Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls ...

's operation. This spurs Bubbles to become a police informant. While in the hospital for that beating, Johnny discovers he is

HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immun ...

; he also undergoes a

colostomy A colostomy is an opening (stoma) in the large intestine (colon), or the surgical procedure that creates one. The opening is formed by drawing the healthy end of the colon through an incision in the anterior abdominal wall and suturing it into ...

operation.

Season 2

Johnny is first seen by Detective

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 ...

, stealing from a shopping centre with Bubbles. McNulty catches Johnny and Bubbles, but instead of arresting them asks them to find stick up artist

Omar Little Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore stick-up man, who frequently robs street-level drug dealers. He is legendary around Baltimore for h ...

. At the end of Season 2, Officer Santangelo arrests Bubbles and Johnny stealing

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. Ther ...

from an ambulance. They are released because Bubbles gives information about

Proposition Joe Joseph Stewart, better known as "Proposition Joe" or "Prop Joe", is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug lord who prefers a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible. H ...

's dealers at the projects, when

Cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During product ...

is shot in the shoulder by

Brother Mouzone Brother Mouzone is a fictional character on the HBO drama '' The Wire'', played by actor Michael Potts. Character history Brother Mouzone (from Arabic موزون ''mawzūn'', meaning "balanced,” "weighted") is a drug enforcer and hitman from ...

Season 3

Johnny and Bubbles continue to steal from scrapyards. Bubbles would rather make money by continuing to inform detectives

McNulty McNulty (also spelled MacNulty or McAnulty) is a surname of Irish language, Irish origin. It is derived from the Goidelic languages, Gaelic ''Mac an Ultaigh'' meaning "son of the Ulsterman". Usually considered a branch of the Ulaid ruling dynast ...

and

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...

. Johnny finds out that Bubbles is a police informant and the two men quarrel and split up. Without Bubbles looking after him, Johnny overdoses and his body is discovered in a vacant house in Major Colvin's "Hamsterdam" free zone.

Origins

Johnny is based on a young white homeless addict

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

met while researching ''

The Corner ''The Corner'' is a 2000 HBO drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book '' The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood'' (1997) by David Simon and Ed Burns, and adapted for television by David Simon and David M ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weeks, Johnny The Wire characters Television characters introduced in 2002 Fictional characters based on real people Fictional career criminals Fictional heroin users Fictional characters with HIV/AIDS Fictional homeless people Male characters in television Fictional drug-related deaths