Frankie Faison

Frankie Russel Faison (born June 10, 1949), often credited as Frankie R. Faison, is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell in the HBO series The Wire[1] and as Barney Matthews in the Hannibal Lecterfranchise.
== Personal life ==
Faison was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Carmena (née Gantt) and Edgar Faison.[2] He studied drama at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he joined Theta Chi Fraternity. He also attended NYU's Graduate Acting Program, graduating in 1974.[3]
== Career ==
Faison started his acting career in 1974 in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of King Lear, with James Earl Jones in the title role. Faison would later appear opposite Jones in the Broadway premiere of Fences, for which he received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Faison's next role came in TV, in the short-lived series Hot Hero Sandwich in 1979. Faison did not make it to the big screen until 1980, when he appeared in Permanent Vacation as "Man in Lobby". A string of small roles followed until 1986, when he played the part of Lt. Fisk in Manhunter. Also that year, he appeared in the comedy The Money Pit, as an unruly construction worker, and in the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive. In 1988, he appeared alongside Eddie Murphy and James Earl Jones in Coming to America in the role of a landlord and won a minor role in the 1989 Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing. Faison is notable for being the most frequent actor to appear in adaptations of Thomas Harris' Hannibal books: along with Manhunter, he also appeared as Lector's jailer Barney in The Silence of the Lambs, the sequel Hannibal and the prequel Red Dragon.
During the 1990–1991 season, he starred in the Fox situation comedy True Colors with Stephanie Faracy and Nancy Walker about an interracial couple. He was replaced by Cleavon Little for the second season of the program. In 1991, Faison again appeared alongside Hopkins in the film Freejack, which also starred Mick Jagger and Maximum Overdrive co-star Emilio Estevez. In 1998, he was a regular on the science-fiction TV show Prey. In the 2003 film Gods and Generals, Faison played the role of Jim Lewis, a freed-slave, who shares his religious faith and optimism with CSA General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson as the General's personal cook. In 2004, he starred as JoJo Anderson in The Cookout and appeared in White Chicks. Faison had a starring role as the Baltimore City Police Commissioner Ervin Burrell on the HBO drama The Wire.
Faison appeared in Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns, a movie about a single mom who takes her family to Georgia for the funeral of her father—a man she never met. There, her clan is introduced to the crass, fun-loving Brown family. Faison played the role of Brown and Vera's brother, L.B. Brown. In 2009, he was also among the ensemble cast of John Krasinski's adaptation of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men playing the son of a toilet attendant who caustically recounts his father's experiences in one of the titular monologues.
Faison played Richard Evans on One Life to Live from 2009 through 2012.
He has recently appeared in episodes of Blue Bloods, which also stars Tom Selleck, as an assistant police commissioner. His main film role in this period was as Harlan in the film Adam. He also appeared in a third season episode of Lie to Me.
Faison played the role of Sugar Bates, a prizefighter turned tavernkeeper, on the Cinemax program Banshee. He appeared as Henry "Pop" Hunter in the Netflixseries Luke Cage,[4] and played a supporting role in the 2016 Amazon Studiosoriginal special An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win.[5]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1980	Permanent Vacation 	Man in Lobby 	
1981	Ragtime 	Gang Member No. 1 	
1982	Cat People 	Detective Brandt 	
1982	A Little Sex 	Electrician 	
1982	Hanky Panky 	Cop Driver 	
1984	C.H.U.D. 	Sergeant Parker 	
1984	Exterminator 2 	Be Gee 	
1986	The Money Pit 	James 	
1986	Maximum Overdrive 	Handy 	
1986	Manhunter 	Lieutenant Fisk 	
1988	Coming to America 	Mr. Townsend 	
1988	Mississippi Burning 	Eulogist 	
1989	Do the Right Thing 	Coconut Sid 	
1990	Betsy's Wedding 	Zack Monroe 	
1991	The Silence of the Lambs 	Barney Matthews 	
1991	City of Hope 	Levonne 	
1992	Freejack 	Eagle Man 	
1993	Sommersby 	Joseph 	
1993	Money for Nothing 	Madigan 	
1994	I Love Trouble 	Police Chief 	
1995	Roommates 	Professor Martin 	
1996	The Stupids 	The Lloyd 	
1996	Mother Night 	Robert Sterling Wilson	
1996	The Rich Man's Wife 	Detective Ron Lewis 	
1997	Albino Alligator 	Agent Marv Rose 	
1997	Julian Po 	Sheriff Leon 	
1998	Jaded 	Henry Broker 	
1999	The Thomas Crown Affair 	Detective Paretti 	
1999	A Little Inside 	Tom Donner 	
1999	Oxygen 	Phil Kline 	
2000	Where the Money Is 	Security Guard 	
2001	The Sleepy Time Gal 	Jimmy Dupree 	
2001	Hannibal 	Barney Matthews 	
2001	Down to Earth 	Whitney Daniels 	
2001	Thirteen Conversations About One Thing 	Richard 'Dick' Lacey 	
2002	Showtime 	Captain Winship 	
2002	Red Dragon 	Barney Matthews 	
2003	Gods and Generals 	Jim Lewis 	
2004	Highwaymen 	Will Macklin 	
2004	America Brown 	Coach Bryant 	
2004	White Chicks 	Chief Elliott Gordon 	
2004	Messengers 	Tom Mabry 	
2004	The Cookout 	Jojo Andersen 	
2004	Crutch 	Jerry 	
2004	In Good Company 	Corwin 	
2006	Premium 	Phil 	
2007	My Blueberry Nights 	Travis 	
2008	Meet the Browns 	L.B. 	
2009	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 	Subject #42 	
2009	Adam 	Harlan 	
2009	Splinterheads 	Pope 	
2009	Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant 	Rhamus Twobellies 	
2009	For Sale by Owner 	Gene Woodman 	
2009	Breaking Point 	Judge Green 	
2011	Mayor Cupcake 	Lenny Davis 	
2012	Cowgirls 'n Angels 	Augustus 	
2013	Tio Papi 	Gilly 	
2013	Danger Word 	Grandpa Joe 	Short film
2014	Clipped Wings, They Do Fly 	Mayor Goode 	
2014	Assumption of Risk 	Dr. Paulson 	
2014	Away from Here 	Carl 	
2016	An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win	Frank Ellison 	
2016	Smoke Filled Lungs 	Stanley 	
2017	The Case for Christ 	Joe Dubois 	
2017	The Sounding 	Roland 	
2018	An Actor Prepares 	Deacon Frank Dodge 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1974 	Great Performances 	Captain 	Episode: "King Lear"
1983 	The Edge of Night 	Ralph Pettibone 	Episode: "16919"
1983 	Sessions 	Intern 	Television film
1985 	Search for Tomorrow 	Willard Clovis 	Episode: "18643"
1985 	Kate & Allie 	Detective 	Episode: "The Bad Seed"
1987 	The Equalizer 	Zudo 	Episode: "Mission: McCall: Part 1"
1989 	A Man Called Hawk 	Mr. Carver 	Episode: "Choice of Chance"
1989 	Monsters 	Jack Lyle 	Episode: "The Mandrake Root"
1990 	Law & Order 	Lester Crawford 	Episode: "Out of the Half-Light"
1990–91	True Colors 	Ron Freeman 	33 episodes
1994 	The Spider and the Fly 	Detective Turner 	Television film
1995 	The Langoliers 	Don Gaffney 	Two-part miniseries
1996 	New York Undercover 	Captain Wilton 	Episode: "Fire Show"
1997 	Oz 	Cornelius Keane 	Episode: "Capital P"
1997–98	Cosby 	Ron 	2 episodes
1998 	Prey 	Ray Peterson 	13 episodes
1998–99	All My Children 	Frank Dawson 	4 episodes
2001 	Call Me Claus 	Dwayne 	Television film
2002–08	The Wire 	Ervin Burrell 	40 episodes
2007–08	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 	FBI Agent Tom Nickerson	2 episodes
2008 	Army Wives 	General Baxter 	Episode: "Departures, Arrivals"
2008–12	One Life to Live 	Richard Evans 	25 episodes
2009 	Grey's Anatomy 	William Bailey 	Episode: "Holidaze"
2010 	Blue Bloods 	Jeffords 	Episode: "Samaritan"
2010 	Lie to Me 	Teddy 	Episode: "Smoked"
2010–15	The Good Wife 	Jeremiah Easton 	4 episodes
2013 	Grey's Anatomy 	William Bailey 	Episode: "Things We Said Today"
2013 	Elementary 	Judge Brewster O'Hare 	Episode: "Tremors"
2013–16	Banshee 	Sugar Bates 	35 episodes
2014 	Unforgettable 	Mayor Beverly 	Episode: "Omega Hour"
2014 	Black Box 	Wade 	Episode: "Sing Like Me"
2014 	Forever 	Pepper Evans 	Episode: "6 A.M."
2016 	Luke Cage 	Henry "Pop" Hunter 	2 episodes
2017 	The Good Fight 	Jeremiah Easton 	Episode: "Reddick v Boseman"
2017 	Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television	Captain Jackson #5 	Episode: "Hungry for Justice"
2018 	Grey's Anatomy 	William Bailey 	Episode: "(Don't Fear) the Reaper"
2018 	Hawaii Five-0 	Leroy Davis 	Episode: "Aohe Mea Make I Ka Hewa; Make No I Ka Mihi Ole"