Wendell Edward Pierce born December 8, is an American actor and businessman. He earned Independent Spirit Awards nominations for his film roles in Four and Burning Cane , on which he also served as a producer.
Wendell Pierce was born in New Orleans , Louisiana , one of three sons of a teacher and a decorated World War II veteran who worked as a maintenance engineer. Pierce has said of his father's experience:. My father fought in Saipan, came back, was awarded medals and were denied them by a white officer who said, no, not you, not your unit.
There was nothing that this country was doing for him or to him that would make him love this country. And in spite of all of that, he gave us a love for country because of the values that we are aspiring to as a nation. Pierce was raised in the black middle-class community of Pontchartrain Park , the first African-American post-war suburb. His father, along with many other black veterans, moved into the neighborhood after returning home from the war. The neighborhood was wiped out during Hurricane Katrina in , including Pierce's family home which was flooded by 14 feet 4.
In , Pierce was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts. When first cast in The Wire , Pierce and his castmates doubted the show would be a hit: "I remember the first time we all sat around and watched the pilot.
We all turned to each other and said, 'Man, I don't think this shit is going anywhere. In , he played J. Pierce was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for his portrayal of Joe, a married and closeted gay man who steps out on his family with a young white man he met online, in Four.
