Michael K Williams, who played the charismatic Baltimore stick-up man in the HBO series The Wire, was found dead on Monday in his Brooklyn home, the police said. His representative Marianna Shafran confirmed his demise in a statement and said that his family was dealing with “this insurmountable loss”.
According to a report in New York Times, Williams was found in the afternoon (2 pm) and the cause of death is yet to be determined. However, his death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.
Williams had left his career as a pharmaceuticals temp and decided to pursue a career as a dancer. After he worked as a backup dancer for singer Kym Sims, he went on to appear in several music videos and tours with artists including Madonna. He made his acting debut with the 1996 film Bullet, after he was discovered by Tupac Shakur. He played High Top, the brother and henchman to a drug kingpin named Tank, played by Tupac.
On his 25th birthday, he was left with a scar on his face after a bar fight, and he believed his modelling career was over. However, he got several photoshoot opportunities afterwards and Tupac actually noticed him because of that scar. “It’s the craziest story. My complexion was horrible, I’m like a dot in a Polaroid. But he saw the scar,” he told Backstage.
Before he started shooting for The Wire in 2002, he played a drug dealer in Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead, and also appeared on The Sopranos.
Williams role as Omar was one of the most memorable roles on the show, especially as the antihero who regularly locked horns with police and the authorities. His character on The Wire was openly gay, challenging a lot of tropes related to the portrayal of Black men on television. Combine that with the dangerous and blatantly homophobic world of crime and drugs he was embroiled in, and the character becomes even more iconic.
In 2019, Williams had told New York Times, “Omar definitely helped soften the blow of homophobia in my community and it opened up a dialogue, definitely.”
Williams has also starred in J J Abrams’ Alias, Michael Hyat-starrer The Kill Point, Chris Rock’s movie I Think I Love My Wife, Sticky Fingaz’s film A Day in the Life, and many others. In 2016, he also collaborated with Vice News for a segment titled Black Market.
Williams is survived by his mother, Paula Williams, his brother, Paul Carey, and his nephew, Dominic Dupont.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)