Clarke Peters

Peters is also known for his roles in the films Silver Dream Racer (1980), Endgame (2009), John Wick (2014), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Harriet (2019), and Da 5 Bloods (2020), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

• Name — Clarke Peters • Birth Name — Peter Clarke • Born — 7 April 1952 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Actor • writer • director • Spouse — * Janine Martyne • Penny Ephson • Children — 5, including Joe Jacobs • Years Active — 1970s–present • Credits — The Wire; Five Guys Named Moe; Da 5 Bloods

Peters was born Peter Clarke, the second of four sons of Martin, a commercial artist, and Loretta, a homemaker and clerical worker, in New York City, and grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. Loretta had wanted to work as a professional dancer at the Cotton Club but her mother had forbidden her from doing so. At the age of 12, he had his first theater experience, in a school production of My Fair Lady. He began to have serious ambitions to work in the theater at the age of 14. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1970.

In 1971, Peters' older brother enabled him to work as a costume designer for a production in Paris, France, of the musical Hair, in which Peters later starred. In 1973, Peters moved to London and changed his name to Clarke Peters, because Equity already had a namesake member. While in London, he formed a soul band, The Majestics, and worked as a backup singer on such hits as "Love and Affection" by Joan Armatrading, "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, and some David Essex songs. However, music was not Peters' main ambition, and he preferred to work in the theater. His first West End theatre musical roles, which he received with assistance from his friend Ned Sherrin, were I Gotta Shoe (1976) and Bubbling Brown Sugar (1977). Other West End credits include Blues in the Night, Porgy and Bess, The Witches of Eastwick, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and Chess. Peters starred in the Sean Connery space Western Outland (1981) as the treacherous Sgt. Ballard, and he played an almost wordless role as Anderson, a vicious pimp in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa (1986). After writing several revues with Sherrin, in 1990 Peters wrote the revue Five Guys Named Moe, which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical. He followed this up with Unforgettable, a musical about Nat King Cole, which received scathing reviews. He also starred in the 2010 British production of Five Guys Named Moe. As a stage actor, Peters has appeared on Broadway, where his performance in The Iceman Cometh (1999) won him the Theatre World Award, and he portrayed the shady lawyer Billy Flynn in the revival of Chicago in 2000 and 2003. In regional theatre he has appeared in Driving Miss Daisy, The Wiz, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Carmen Jones, and The Amen Corner. In September 2011, Peters appeared on stage in a Sheffield Crucible Theatre production of Shakespeare's Othello, playing the title role opposite his Wire co-star Dominic West, who played Iago. In the 2014 New York Shakespeare in the Park festival, Peters played Gloucester in King Lear. Peters is familiar to television viewers as Detective Lester Freamon in the HBO series The Wire. Peters also starred in the HBO mini-series The Corner, portraying a drug addict named Fat Curt, as well as the FX series Damages, as Dave Pell. Both The Wire and The Corner were created by writer and former The Baltimore Sun journalist David Simon. Peters also stars in Simon's HBO series Treme, in the role of Mardi Gras Indian chief Albert Lambreaux. Peters appeared in two episodes of the American time-travel/detective TV series Life on Mars (2008) as NYPD Captain Fletcher Bellow. He also appeared in the British show Holby City, as Derek Newman, the father of nurse Donna Jackson. He voiced a part in the Doctor Who animated episode Dreamland, and in the In Plain Sight episode "Duplicate Bridge" as a man in Witness Protection named Norman Baker/Norman Danzer. In 2010, Peters read Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption for BBC 7. In that year, he also had a guest appearance as Professor Mark Ramsay in the pilot episode of the USA Network TV series Covert Affairs. From 2012 to 2013, Peters had a recurring role as Alonzo D. Quinn in the CBS TV series Person of Interest. Peters' movie credits include Mona Lisa (1986), Notting Hill (1999), K-PAX (2001), Freedomland (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Endgame (2009; in which he played Nelson Mandela), Nativity! (2009), the Spike Lee film Red Hook Summer (2012; in which he played Bishop Enoch), and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Peters played Easy Rawlins in a 1997 BBC Radio 4 dramatization of Walter Mosley's Black Betty. He also narrated the BBC radio series Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History, as well as the audiobook version of Michael Chabon's novel Telegraph Avenue, released in September 2012 by HarperAudio. Peters played Art Daniels in the Netflix series The Boroughs (2026).

Peters was politicized by the Vietnam War. Shortly before he left for Paris, he was arrested for obstructing police lines after an anti-Vietnam War demonstration but was cleared. He later said of this experience: "It made me more angry than anything else, because what I experienced was how impotent you could be as an American citizen." While in Paris, Peters received a letter from the FBI accusing him of draft evasion. He contested the charge, stating: "If the enemy comes to America, I'll be there, but I don't know the Vietnamese. If you put me in the army, I'm not going there." Peters has had five children from three relationships. He and his first wife, Janine Martyne, had two children, China, an architect, and Peter, an artist. He later had a relationship with Joanna Jacobs, a daughter of the broadcaster David Jacobs, with whom he had two sons: Joe Jacobs, an actor, and Guppy, who died of a kidney tumor in 1992, at the age of four. He has a son, Max, with his second wife, Penny Ephson; Max played the young Michael Jackson in the West End production of the musical Thriller – Live. As of 2012, Peters split his time between a house in the Charles Village section of Baltimore, which he bought in 2006 while working on The Wire, and one in London. He is a follower of the Brahma Kumaris.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. • 1980–1984 — Play for Today — Yankee Billy / Stevie — 2 episodes • 1983 — The Professionals — President Ojuka — Episode: "The Ojuka Situation" • Saigon: Year of the Cat — Soldier — TV movie • 1985 — Travelling Man — Alan Downing — Episode: "A Token Attempt" • 1989 — Red King, White Knight — Jones — TV movie • Frederick Forsyth Presents: A Casualty of War — Grover T. Fleming — TV movie • 1991 — El C.I.D. — Sultan — Episode: "Christmas Spirit" • 1992 — A Masculine Ending — Theo Sykes — TV movie • 1993 — Death Train — C.W. Whitlock — TV movie • Between the Lines — Mr. Banthorpe — Episode: "Jumping the Lights" • 1994 — Murder Most Horrid — American — Episode: "Mangez Merveillac" • 1995 — Chandler & Co — Jasper — Episode: "The American Dream" • 1996 — French and Saunders — Lt. Johnny Cochrane — Episode: "The Quick and the Dead" • 1998 — Jonathan Creek — Hewie Harper — 2 episodes • 2000 — The Corner — Fat Curt — Miniseries; 6 episodes • Oz — Afsana — Episode: "The Bill of Wrongs" • 2002 — Night and Day — Gabriel Huysman — 3 episodes • 2002–2008 — The Wire — Det. Lester Freamon — Main cast; 55 episodes • 2003 — Waking the Dead — Howard Boorstin — 2 episodes: "Multistorey" • 2003, 2016 — American Masters — Narrator — 2 episodes: "James Brown: Soul Survivor"; "Fats Domino and The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll" • 2005 — Law & Order: Trial by Jury — Rex da Silva — Episode: "Pattern of Conduct" • 2007 — Meadowlands — Professor / Samantha's Father — Episode #1.6 • 2008 — Life on Mars — Captain Bellow — 2 episodes • 2009 — Damages — Dave Pell — 8 episodes • In Plain Sight — Norman Baker / Norman Danzer — Episode: "Duplicate Bridge" • Great Performances — Walter de Courcy — Episode: "Chess in Concert" • Holby City — Derek Newman — 5 episodes • Doctor Who: Dreamland — Night Eagle (voice) — 4 episodes • 2010 — Covert Affairs — Dr. Mark Ramsay — Episode: "Pilot" • 2010–2013 — Treme — Albert Lambreaux — Main cast; 35 episodes • 2011 — Archer — Popeye (voice) — 2 episodes • Memphis Beat — Fred — Episode: "The Feud" • 2012–2013 — Person of Interest — Alonzo Quinn — 11 episodes • 2013 — Blue Bloods — Nathan Anderson — Episode: "Quid Pro Quo" • 2014 — True Detective — Minister — Episode: "The Long Bright Dark" • Death in Paradise — Marlon Croft — Episode: "Political Suicide" • The Divide — Isaiah Page — 8 episodes • 2015 — Forever — Jerry Charters — Episode: "The Wolves of Deep Brooklyn" • Midsomer Murders — Frank Wainwright — Episode: "The Ballad of Midsomer County" • Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime — Julius Hersheimmer — 3 episodes • Show Me a Hero — Robert Mayhawk — 2 episodes • London Spy — The American — Episode: "Strangers" • Jessica Jones — Det. Oscar Clemons — 4 episodes • 2016 — Jericho — Ralph Coates — 8 episodes • Underground — Jay — 3 episodes • The Tunnel — Sonny Persaud — 4 episodes • People of Earth — Ronald — Episode: "Lost and Found" • 2016–2017 — Chance — Carl Allan — 9 episodes • 2017 — The Blacklist: Redemption — Richard Whitehall — 2 episodes • The Deuce — Melvin "Ace" — Episode: "My Name Is Ruby" • 2018 — Bulletproof — Director-General Ronald Pike Sr — 6 episodes • Love Is — Present-day Yasir — 10 episodes • 2019 — His Dark Materials — The Master of Jordan College — 3 episodes (series 1) • Christmas Under the Stars — Clem — Television film (Hallmark) • 2020 — Bumps — Charles — Television pilot • 2021 — The Irregulars — The Linen Man — 7 episodes • Foundation — Abbas — 6 episodes • La Fortuna — Jonas Pierce — 6 episodes • 2022 — The Man Who Fell to Earth — Josiah Falls — Main role • 2024 — Truelove — Ken — Miniseries, 6 episodes • Testament: The Story of Moses — Voice of God — Miniseries, 3 episodes • Eric — George — Miniseries • 2025 — Towards Zero — Mr Treves — Three-part miniseries • Watson — Hamish Watson — Episode: "Giant Steps" • 2026 — The Boroughs — Art Daniels — Main cast

Source: • Year — Title — Role — Venue — Director — Ref. • Dispatches — T/O Joe the Priest; Johnson — National Theatre — Bill Bryde • 1987 — Blues in the Night — Snake — Donmar Warehouse — Sheldon Epps • 1987 — Amen Corner — Brother Boxer — Tricyle Theatre — Anton Phillips • 1988 — Driving Miss Daisy — Hoke Coleburn — Apollo Theatre — Ron Lagomarsino • 1989-90 — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom — Toledo — National Theatre — Howard Davies • 1990 — Five Guys Names Moe — Four-Eyed Moe — Lyric Theatre — Charles Augins • 1993 — Kiss of the Spiderwoman — The Warden — Shaftesbury Theatre — Hal Prince • 1996-7 — Guys & Dolls — Sky Masterson — National Theatre — A Bird & R Eyrne • 1996 — Chicago — Billy Flynn — Shubert Theatre — Walter Bobbie • 1998 — The Iceman Cometh — Joe Mott — Almeida Theatre — Howard Davies • 1999 — Brooks Atkinson Theatre — Howard Davies • Chicago — Billy Flynn — Adelphi Theatre — Michael Grandage • Mourning Becomes Electra — Sef and Shantyman — National Theatre — Howard Davies • 2006-7 — Porgy and Bess — Porgy — Savoy Theatre — Trevor Nunn • 2010 — The Whipping Man — Simon — Pittsfield's Barrington — Christopher Innvar • 2011 — Othello — Othello — Sheffield Theatre — Daniel Evans • 2013 — Race — Henry Brown — Hampstead Theatre — Terry Johnson • 2014 — King Lear — Earl of Gloucester — Shakespeare in the Park/Broadway — Daniel Sullivan • 2015 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying — Performer — Royal Festival Hall — Jonathan Butterell • The Royale — Wynton — Lincoln Center Theater — Rachel Chavkin • 2016 — Simply Heavenly — Melon — Young Vic — Josette Bushell-Mingo • 2019 — The American Clock — Robertson/Taylor/Moe 3 — The Old Vic — Rachel Chavkin • 2024 — King Lear — The Fool — Almeida Theatre — Yael Farber

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. • 1997 — Black Betty — Easy Rawlins — BBC Radio • 2008 — Dr No — Quarrel — BBC Radio • 2014-2015 — Elvis McGonagall Takes a Look on the Bright Side — Narrator — BBC Radio • 2016 — Blood Count — Duke Ellington — BBC Radio • 2017 — The Underground Railroad — Narrator — BBC Radio, abridged audiobook reading • 2002 — The Gold Bug — Charles — BBC Radio • 2022 — Marvel's Wastelanders: Wolverine — Charles Xavier / Professor X — Podcast • Marvel's Wastelanders — Charles Xavier / Professor X — Podcast • 2023 — The Mantawauk Caves — Detective Solomon Smith — Podcast

The authorities additionally record the heading Peter James Clarke. His recorded language was English. One child is recorded: Joe Jacobs.

Clarke Peters is recorded as actor, writer, singer, theatre director and screenwriter.