Michael Potts (born September 21, 1962) is an American actor. He has appeared on stage, on television and in motion pictures.
Early years
Potts was born on September 21, 1962 in
Brooklyn, New York City
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
and grew up in
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
. He got his start participating in church and local plays. His inspiration to attend the
School of Drama at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
came from watching a clip of the 1985 production of
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
's play ''
Fences'', starring
James Earl Jones and
Courtney B. Vance.
Acting career
Potts is best known for playing the roles of
Brother Mouzone in 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 ...
hit show, ''
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 ...
'', Mafala Hatimbi in the musical ''
The Book of Mormon'', and Slow Drag in ''
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom''. He also played Detective Gilbough in the first season of ''
True Detective
''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...
''.
Potts appeared in the 2022 Broadway revival of ''
The Piano Lesson'', in a performance which ''The Hollywood Reporter'' called one of the highlights of the production.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Theatre credits
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Michael
1962 births
Living people
American male television actors
20th-century African-American male actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century African-American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Place of birth missing (living people)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male voice actors
American male musical theatre actors
David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni