Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (born September 22, 1971) is an American actor who has appeared in films, television series, and theatre. He portrayed D'Angelo Barksdale on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, 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 based a ...

drama series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'', a role which earned him critical acclaim. He is also known for his role as Bob Stookey in 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 *** ...

horror drama '' The Walking Dead''. He was in the cast of David Simon's

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 ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American-Italian epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The fil ...

'' (2002).

Early life and education

Gilliard was born in New York City. He and his family moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, when he was seven years old. Gilliard played clarinet and studied

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

at Baltimore School for the Arts.

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress, businesswoman, and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show ''Red Table Talk'', for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Awards, Daytim ...

and

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

were classmates of Gilliard at the Baltimore School of the Arts. After attending

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

for three years as a clarinet performance student, Gilliard decided to pursue acting instead of music. He also studied acting at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

, The Acting Studio – New York, and the Stella Adler Conservatory.

Career

Gilliard made his film debut playing the lead, Dennis Brown, in the 1991 independent film '' Straight Out of Brooklyn.'' Gilliard has appeared on numerous television crime dramas such as ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'', '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', ''

'', '' 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 ''

'' (2002). Gilliard is also a stage actor. He received positive reviews for his role of Booth in a production of the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning play '' Topdog/Underdog''. He joined '' The Walking Dead'' cast as a regular, playing Bob Stookey.

Personal life

, Gilliard was married to Michelle Paress, who joined the cast of ''

'' in its fifth season. They divorced in 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilliard, Lawrence Jr. American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Juilliard School alumni Male actors from Baltimore Male actors from New York City Living people 1971 births American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors