Russell "Stringer" Bell 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 person, ...
in ''
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 ...
'', played by
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor. . He is a secondary antagonist for season 1 and 2, later being the main antagonist for season 3. In the criminal world of early 2000s Baltimore, Bell serves as drug kingpin
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Wire'', played by Wood Harris. Barksdale is one of the most powerful drug dealers in Baltimore, Maryland, and runs the Barksdale Organization. Stringer Be ...
's second-in-command and assumes direct control of the
Barksdale Organization
The Barksdale Organization is a fictional drug-dealing gang on the television series ''The Wire''. Many of the characters featured in season one of ''The Wire'' belong to this organization. Season 1 largely deals with the Baltimore Police Depar ...
during Avon's imprisonment. Bell is an extremely intelligent man and a natural leader, but shuns the flamboyance of the likes of Avon for ruthless pragmatism and terse professionalism.
He attends
macroeconomics
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
classes at
Baltimore City Community College and maintains a personal library, including a copy of
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
's ''
The Wealth of Nations
''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the '' magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in ...
''. He attempts to legitimize the Barksdale Organization and insulates himself from direct criminality through
money laundering and investments in housing development, aided through his buying of influence from politicians.
Biography
Stringer Bell grew up in the
West Baltimore
West Baltimore station is a regional rail station located in the western part of the City of Baltimore, Maryland along the Northeast Corridor. It is served by MARC Penn Line trains. The station is positioned on an elevated grade above and betwe ...
housing projects
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...
with his childhood friends
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Wire'', played by Wood Harris. Barksdale is one of the most powerful drug dealers in Baltimore, Maryland, and runs the Barksdale Organization. Stringer Be ...
and
Wee-Bey Brice
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character in the HBO drama ''The Wire'' played by Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey is a trusted soldier in the Barksdale Organization.
Character storyline
Wee-Bey dropped out of school in sixth grade and started de ...
.
Season 1
Stringer is first seen attending the trial of Avon's nephew and lieutenant,
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 mo ...
, for the murder of rival drug dealer "Pooh" Blanchard. To ensure D'Angelo's
acquittal, Stringer has enforcers
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice,
Anton "Stinkum" Artis, and
Savino Bratton
''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, ...
intimidate
Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...
and
bribe
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corr ...
witnesses over the course of the trial. When D'Angelo is released, Avon has Stringer demote D'Angelo from the Barksdale towers to the low-rise projects known as "the pit".
Elsewhere, Stringer deals with
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 ...
's crew after they steal some of Barksdale's stash from the pit. Stringer instructs D'Angelo to check his organization for an informant who may have given Omar information. Avon has Stringer assist Stinkum in taking over new territory for the organization.
Stringer takes Stinkum to survey his new territory, with some additional muscle in the form of Wee-Bey and
Marquis "Bird" Hilton. While there, Stringer receives word from D'Angelo that two of his crew,
Wallace
Wallace may refer to:
People
* Clan Wallace in Scotland
* Wallace (given name)
* Wallace (surname)
* Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back
* Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...
and
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 ...
, have spotted Omar's boyfriend
Brandon Wright at an arcade. Stringer and his crew abduct Brandon and torture him to death while trying to discover Omar's whereabouts.
After Omar kills Stinkum and wounds Wee-Bey, Stringer tries to persuade Avon to offer a
truce
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
to Omar and kill him when he lets his guard down. Avon initially brushes Stringer's suggestion aside but accepts this advice after Omar nearly kills him. Stringer also persuades Avon to give up his
pager
A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknow ...
, making Stringer a buffer between Avon and the rest of the operation.
As Avon increasingly suspects that he is being watched by police, Stringer takes precautions to smoke out informants and counter
wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
s. He instructs D'Angelo to withhold pay from his subordinates for several weeks on the grounds that those who don't soon ask for money are likely to be the ones being paid as informants. However, this plan reveals no informants. To foil wiretaps, Stringer insists on phone discipline, telling D'Angelo's crew to remove nearby
payphones and walk longer distances to other phones instead.
When it's time for Avon to clean house, Stringer orders the murder of Wallace, who played a part in Brandon’s abduction and was disconcerted by the sight of his mutilated body. Stringer tries to find out about Wallace's whereabouts from D'Angelo, who realizes his friend is in danger and only tells Stringer that Wallace left the business. Stringer turns to
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 ...
, D'Angelo's second-in-command, and learns that Wallace has returned to working for D'Angelo. Stringer asks Bodie to kill Wallace while also having Nakeesha Lyles, a witness he had bribed in D'Angelo's trial, murdered by a member of the organization.
Stringer assumes command of the Barksdale crew when Avon is arrested at the end of season 1; Stringer is not arrested due to a lack of evidence or wiretap information mentioning Stringer. D'Angelo is also arrested and blames Stringer when he learns of Wallace's death, driving a wedge between the two. Stringer rewards Bodie's loyalty by promoting him to run their operation at the Franklin Terrace projects.
Season 2
In season 2, Stringer faces a serious problem when the Barksdales' usual supplier, a
Dominican named Roberto, becomes the focus of a
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
investigation. The
New York-based Dominican syndicate ends its partnership with the Barksdales, suspecting Avon of informing on them in exchange for a lighter prison sentence. Avon finds alternatives through
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
connections, but the
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
they supply is far less potent and more expensive.
Compounding this problem, all of Avon's hitmen have either been killed or arrested. At the same time,
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 ...
introduces a purer, more effective heroin line through his connection with
The Greek
The Greek 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 f ...
, leading many drug users to migrate to his territory. With the Barksdales' operation threatened, Stringer grows desperate.
Stringer becomes concerned with D'Angelo's increasingly hostile attitude towards his uncle, fearful that he may turn against the Barksdales. Stringer secretly becomes involved with D'Angelo's girlfriend,
Donette, using the relationship to keep an eye on D'Angelo. When D'Angelo cuts himself off from the rest of his family, Stringer secretly arranges with a connection in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
to
have him killed. Stringer's connection has his cousin, who is in the same prison, strangle D'Angelo and stage the death as a
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. Stringer stresses the need to keep Avon from knowing about Stringer's role in D'Angelo's murder.
Looking to solve the Barksdales’ struggling drug trade, Stringer decides to go behind Avon's back and secretly agrees to share Barksdale territory with Proposition Joe in exchange for Joe's higher-quality heroin, an idea Avon vehemently opposed. When Avon hires the legendary New York enforcer
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 ...
to chase rival drug dealers out of the Barksdale towers, Stringer maneuvers carefully to preserve his alliance with Joe behind Avon's back.
He manages to do so by tricking Omar into shooting Mouzone by blaming him for Brandon's death. The plan fails after Omar shoots Mouzone, but calls the paramedics after realizing he's been lied to by Stringer. With Mouzone returning to New York to recover, Avon grudgingly agrees to Joe's proposal.
Season 3
Stringer uses more business-like strategies as he continues running the Barksdale empire. He obtains legitimate
business fronts for the Barksdales, forms the
New Day Co-Op
''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 ...
with Proposition Joe and other rival dealers, and runs meetings with his underlings according to
Robert's Rules of Order
''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert.
"The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which ...
. Stringer is also shown to have made several donations to local business leaders and politicians, including the corrupt
State Senator Clay Davis
R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes. However, throughout the series Davis remains p ...
, to facilitate development of a
condominium complex.
Along with Joe, Stringer effectively runs the drug supply in Baltimore. The two realize that the associated murders, not the drug trade itself, are what bring on serious police investigations. Consequently they strive to minimize violence among their crews and the other Co-Op dealers.
The resulting lack of murders forces
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 ...
' Major Crimes Unit to turn its attention elsewhere, namely to a more reckless
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n dealer named Kintell "Prince K" Williamson. Most of the unit understands the decision, but
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 ...
angrily objects, pointing out that Stringer is clearly a more prolific trafficker than their new target. This brings McNulty into conflict with
Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'', played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. He is a wise, methodical detective whose int ...
, with
Kima Greggs
Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a determined and capable police detective in the Baltimore Police Department. Openly lesbian, she often displays a hardened, c ...
caught in the middle, and
Roland Pryzbylewski
Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Jim True-Frost. Pryzbylewski is a detective of Polish heritage in the Baltimore Police Department. Initially seen as incompetent and rash, he pr ...
and
Leander Sydnor
Leander Sydnor is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Corey Parker Robinson. Sydnor is a young, married Baltimore Police detective who is a member of the Barksdale detail and later works in the Major Crimes Unit. ...
disenchanted with the less interesting Williamson. As a result, the Major Crimes Unit, previously the most effective unit in the
Baltimore Police Department, is temporarily compromised, and Stringer is able to operate without interference for a time.
When Avon is released from prison, he is uninterested in Stringer's efforts to reform the Barksdales. While Stringer wants to invest the organization's profits in legitimate business investments, Avon is more concerned with an imminent war against
Marlo Stanfield
Marlo Stanfield is a fictional character on the HBO television drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Jamie Hector. Stanfield is a young, ambitious, intelligent and ruthless gangster and head of the eponymous Stanfield Organization in the Baltimore ...
. As Avon's war against Marlo begins to draw more police attention, Joe and other Co-Op members threaten to cut Stringer off from the Greek's heroin supply if he can't stop the violence.
In Stringer's view, this would make any victory over Marlo worthless, as street corners generate no money without drugs to sell on them. When Stringer asserts his opposition to Avon's war against Marlo, Avon accuses him of lacking the masculinity necessary for their business. Stringer angrily rebuts by revealing that he had ordered D'Angelo's death. Stringer's relationship with Avon is irreparably damaged by this revelation.
Stringer's inroads into
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
are hamstrung by the nuances of a legitimate business world that he doesn't fully understand, with his condominium project repeatedly delayed by bureaucratic obstacles. Worse, Stringer bribes Davis to connect his organization with federal housing grants, only to learn that Davis had fabricated his federal contact and pocketed the money. Enraged, Stringer tells
Slim Charles
Slim Charles is a fictional character in the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Anwan Glover. An enforcer for the Barksdale Organization and later the top lieutenant of kingpin Proposition Joe, he is portrayed as principled, loyal, and compet ...
to assassinate Davis, an order Avon immediately rescinds.
Stringer's luck takes a turn for the worse when Williamson joins the New Day Co-Op and McNulty manages to get the MCU to shift focus back to the Barksdales. Freamon and Prez slowly gather conspiracy evidence against Stringer and his lieutenants, and eventually catch Stringer making an incriminating phone call using one of his many SIM cards. This finally gives MCU enough evidence to make a move against Stringer.
Stringer plans to stabilize control of the Barksdales by sending Avon back to prison for
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
violations. In making those plans he betrays the location of the Barksdale weapons cache to Major
Howard "Bunny" Colvin
Howard "Bunny" Colvin is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Robert Wisdom. Colvin is a wise and able police major in the Baltimore's Western District, alienated by the careerism and bureaucracy rampant in the Ba ...
. Stringer is simultaneously betrayed by Avon, when Mouzone confronts him about Stringer's plot to engineer a conflict between himself and Omar. In an effort to avoid a war with Mouzone and his New York associates, Avon reluctantly tells him Stringer's whereabouts.
The next day, Omar and Mouzone track Stringer to his development site, kill his bodyguard, and hunt him down and corner him as he tries to escape. Stringer at first tries desperately bargaining for his life, but when Omar reveals that he and Mouzone are after him for personal reasons, and that Avon has betrayed him, he sombrely resigns to his fate and is shot to death by Omar and Mouzone.
With Stringer dead and Avon imprisoned, the Barksdale Organization crumbles. Slim Charles becomes the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' leader of what remains of the crew, which he merges with Proposition Joe's drug operations. Marlo becomes the new power in West Baltimore by default. McNulty and the police search Stringer's apartment and find it extremely clean, stylishly furnished, and tastefully decorated, far from their expectations of a drug kingpin. Stringer's bookshelf includes a copy of ''
The Wealth of Nations
''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the '' magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in ...
''.
McNulty expresses regret that he could not arrest his archrival before he died, and displays an odd admiration for Stringer's lofty dreams and a grudging respect for his talent as a drug kingpin. In essence, McNulty feels purposeless without his adversary, and it is this sense of aimlessness that leads him to transfer to patrol in the Western District and straighten his life out.
Legacy
In the season 5 episode "
Late Editions
"Late Editions" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series ''The Wire'', the penultimate episode of the series. The episode was written by George Pelecanos from a story by David Simon and George Pelecanos and was direct ...
",
Clay Davis
R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes. However, throughout the series Davis remains p ...
, while describing to
Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'', played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. He is a wise, methodical detective whose int ...
how drug money is routed from the kingpins to state and city politicians through their lawyers, mentions how he conned a fellow named "Bell" into giving him a great deal of money, because Davis had convinced him that he would be able to use his connections to push his development forward quickly. As Davis laughs about how he conned Stringer, Freamon's eyes light up in recognition.
Origins
Stringer Bell's name is a composite of real Baltimore drug lords Stringer Reed and Roland Bell.
His story bears many similarities to the life of
Kenneth A. Jackson, including his crossover from the illegal drug trade to legitimate business ownership and political contributions.
In Popular Culture
In 2019, political writer
Adam Serwer
Adam Serwer (born 1982) is an American journalist and author. He is a staff writer at ''The Atlantic'' where his work focuses on politics, race, and justice. He previously worked at Buzzfeed News, ''The American Prospect'', and '' Mother Jones'' ...
apparently coined the term "The Stringer Bell Rule" for the adage "don't keep notes on a criminal conspiracy", though Bell's line "
..is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?" from the Season 3 episode
Straight and True was cited as early as 2017 to express incredulity at the
Trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
team's documented
interactions with Russia during his 2016 election campaign, and in 2013
as advice for
J P Morgan after a spreadsheet listing alleged improprieties was found during a criminal investigation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Stringer
The Wire characters
Fictional African-American people
Fictional murdered people
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional gangsters
Fictional murderers
Fictional underbosses
Fictional torturers
Television characters introduced in 2002
Drug dealers of The Wire
Fictional characters based on real people
American male characters in television
Baltimore City Community College alumni