Character actor Robert Wisdom played imposing men of authority on both sides of the law in such celebrated television series as "The Wire" (HBO, 2003-08), "Prison Break" (Fox, 2005-09, 2017), "Supernatural" (The WB/CW, 2005- ) and "The Alienist" (TNT, 2018- ). Born Robert Ray Wisdom to Jamaican parents in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 1953, he developed an interest in acting as a senior at Columbia University, but earned a degree in economics and history in 1976 and worked in banking before shifting careers to serve as a producer with National Public Radio. In the 1980s, Wisdom worked as artistic director for an array of cultural projects before eventually settling into his role as Director of Performing Arts at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in London. He moved solely into acting in the early 1990s, and made his screen debut in an episode of the long-running police drama "The Bill" (ITV 1984-2010). Wisdom returned to the United States in 1993 and worked steadily in character parts in features, including Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do!" (1996) and John Woo's "Face/Off" (1997), and on television, most notably in recurring roles on the American version of "Cracker" (ABC, 1997-98) and the syndicated "Poltergeist: The Legacy" (1996-99). In 2003, Wisdom received his most substantive showcase on the celebrated police drama "The Wire." Debuting in its second season as veteran Baltimore major Howard "Bunny" Colvin, he grew disenchanted with the rank-and-file approach to the city's overwhelming drug trade, and created a "free zone" where dealers and addicts could conduct business without police intervention. The decision spawned a drop in crime rates for his district, but when his superiors - who were not consulted in the creation of the free zone - catch wind of the plan, he is demoted and disgraced. Colvin returned in the show's fourth season to establish a similar free zone scenario in the troubled Baltimore school system, which again produces positive results. Critical praise for his performance led to more high-profile character roles in features, most notably the biopic "Ray" (2004) as pioneering black record label head Jack Lauderdale, and in recurring roles on "Prison Break" as drug lord Norman "Lechero" St. John and as the imperious angel Uriel on "Supernatural." Both performances also earned laurels from viewers and critics, and Wisdom remained an in-demand character player on both the big and small screen, including "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) and recurring roles on "Nashville" (ABC/CMT 2012-18) as an aspiring mayoral candidate and the HBO series "Ballers" (2015- ) as NFL player John David Washington's estranged father. In 2017, TNT announced that Wisdom would join the cast of "The Alienist" (2018- ), an adaptation of the Caleb Carr period thriller, with Wisdom cast as a valet who aided psychologist Daniel Brühl in his investigation of a string of murders in 19th century New York.
Highest rated movies
Photos
Robert Wisdom
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dreams in Nightmares | Unknown (Character) | - | 2024 |
39% | | A Journal for Jordan | Sgt. T.J. Canedy (Character) | $6.4M | 2021 |
58% | | Vacation Friends | Unknown (Character) | - | 2021 |
65% | | Motherless Brooklyn | Billy Rose (Character) | $9.3M | 2019 |
25% | | Beast of Burden | Mallory (Character) | - | 2018 |
29% | | Unforgettable | Detective Pope (Character) | $11.3M | 2017 |
36% | | Live Cargo | Roy (Character) | - | 2016 |
15% | | The Loft | Detective Cohagan (Character) | $6.0M | 2014 |
73% | | Rampart | Captain (Character) | $969.2K | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bright | Irwin (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Thousand Suns | Narrator | - | 2009 |
29% | | The Collector | Roy (Character) | $7.7M | 2009 |
70% | | Freedom Writers | Carl Cohn (Character) | $36.6M | 2007 |
30% | | The Hawk Is Dying | Billy Bob (Character) | $6.1K | 2006 |
No Score Yet | | Blume (Character) | - | 2005 | |
40% | | Killer Diller | Moker (Character) | $17.3K | 2004 |
15% | | Haven | Mr. Sterling (Character) | $136.8K | 2004 |
79% | | Ray | Jack Lauderdale (Character) | $75.3M | 2004 |
31% | | The Forgotten | Carl Dayton (Character) | $66.6M | 2004 |
69% | | Barbershop 2: Back in Business | Alderman Brown (Character) | $65.0M | 2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Haven: Trailer | Mr. Sterling (Character) | - | 2004 |
25% | | Masked and Anonymous | Lucius (Character) | $533.3K | 2003 |
35% | | Duplex | Officer Dan (Character) | $9.7M | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Our House | Officer Dan (Character) | - | 2003 |
48% | | Coastlines | Bob Johnson (Character) | $6.5K | 2002 |
78% | | Live From Baghdad | Bernard Shaw (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hollywood Palms | The Dutchman (Character) | - | 2001 |
54% | | Storytelling | Mr. Scott (Character) | $912.4K | 2001 |
No Score Yet | | For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story | Unknown (Character) | - | 2000 |
22% | | Dancing at the Blue Iguana | Eddie (Character) | $61.1K | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rocky Road | Michael Jones (Character) | $991 | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Heist | Slim (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | | Three Businessmen | Leroy Jasper (Character) | - | 1998 |
54% | | Mighty Joe Young | Kweli (Character) | $50.6M | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stir | Detective Williams (Character) | - | 1997 |
93% | | Face/Off | Tito Biondi (Character) | $112.3M | 1997 |
No Score Yet | | Lifeform | Colonel Jessie Pratt (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | | Sahara | Tambul (Character) | - | 1995 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
61% | 62% | Accused | Mitch Becker (Guest Star) | 2023 |
100% | 81% | The Big Leap | Earl Sr. (Guest Star) | 2021 |
27% | 71% | Marvel's Helstrom | Caretaker (Character) | 2020 |
77% | 80% | The Alienist | Cyrus (Character) | 2018 2020 |
57% | 75% | The Hot Zone | Vernon Tucker (Character) | 2019 |
56% | 77% | The Fix | Buck Neal (Guest Star) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 81% | Blue Bloods | Inspector Andre Clifford (Guest Star) | 2019 |
9% | 76% | Rosewood | Gerald Kelly (Guest Star) | 2016-2017 |
72% | 88% | Ballers | Dennis (Guest Star) | 2015-2016 |
No Score Yet | 88% | Chicago P.D. | Ron Perry (Guest Star) | 2014-2015 |
88% | 79% | 12 Monkeys | Jeremy (Guest Star) | 2015 |
84% | 72% | Grey's Anatomy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
91% | 73% | Nashville | Coleman Carlisle (Character), Unknown (Guest Star) | 2012-2013 |
88% | 95% | Burn Notice | Vaughn Anderson (Guest Star) | 2010-2011 |
85% | 69% | Nikita | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2011 |
46% | 71% | Happy Town | Roger Hobbs (Character) | 2010 |
78% | 83% | Father Theo Burdett (Guest Star) | 2009 | |
84% | 84% | How I Met Your Mother | McCracken (Guest Star) | 2009 |
93% | 73% | Supernatural | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2008-2009 |
No Score Yet | 86% | Lie to Me | Bonds (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 84% | NCIS | Warden Gene Halsey (Guest Star) | 2009 |
94% | 96% | The Wire | Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Character), Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003-2004 2006 2008 |
61% | 77% | Prison Break | Lechero (Character) | 2007-2008 |
65% | No Score Yet | Close to Home | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Judging Amy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Agency | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
83% | 95% | NYPD Blue | Eric Green (Guest Star) | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The District | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | 85% | ER | Dr. Hammond (Guest Star) | 2001 |
6% | No Score Yet | Wasteland | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999 |
60% | No Score Yet | Cracker | Det. Danny Watlington (Character) | 1997-1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Poltergeist: The Legacy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Prospero (Guest Star) | 1998 | |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sentinel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1996 |
100% | No Score Yet | The Nine | Unknown (Guest Star) |