Robert Ray Wisdom (born September 14, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as

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 ...

in ''

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 ...

'', Norman "Lechero" St. John in ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'', and Jim Moss in ''

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

''. He has been honored with an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

Early life

Wisdom was born on September 14, 1953 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to immigrant Jamaican parents. He is a graduate of St. Albans School and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he was a star sprinter on the university's track team. He had turned down athletic scholarships in track and field to attend Columbia, becoming interested in acting as a senior after taking acting classes as a hobby.

Career

Wisdom's first major acting roles were at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

in London, later acting throughout England and Scotland. He appeared in four of the five seasons (primarily seasons three and four) of 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 ...

program ''

'' as

. Wisdom had initially auditioned for the role of

Stringer Bell Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character in ''The Wire'', played by Idris Elba. In the criminal world of early 2000s Baltimore, Bell serves as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second-in-command and assumes direct control of the Barksdale O ...

. He has also starred in the 2004 films '' Barbershop 2: Back in Business'' and ''

Ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

'', and the 2007 film ''

Freedom Writers ''Freedom Writers'' is a 2007 American biographical drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey and Mario. It is based on the 1999 book '' The Freedom W ...

''. He landed a regular role on season 3 of ''

'' playing the role of a Panamanian drug kingpin named Lechero. He also had recurring roles in the television series ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'', '' Happy Town'', and ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

''. Wisdom was once a producer for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

''. From 2012 to 2013, Wisdom was a series regular in season one of the ABC drama series ''

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

'', as Coleman Carlisle. From 2022 to 2023, Wisdom starred in the HBO black-comedy series ''

,'' as Jim Moss, for which he was nominated for the

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Comedy Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest ensemble acting achievements in comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * *
Robert Wisdom at Broadway World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisdom, Robert American actors of Jamaican descent American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Living people 20th-century American male actors Place of birth missing (living people) St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Columbia University alumni 21st-century American male actors 1953 births 20th-century African-American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors Columbia Lions men's track and field athletes