Clarke Peters
Peters inEdinburgh in August 2010
Born	Peter Clarke (1952-04-07)April 7, 1952 (age 73) New York City, U.S.
Occupations	Actor writer director
Years active	1970s–present
Notable credit(s)	The Wire; Five Guys Named Moe; Da 5 Bloods
Spouses	Janine Martyne Penny Ephson
Children	5, includingJoe Jacobs

Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally asClarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom.^[1] He is best known for his roles asLester Freamon in the television seriesThe Wire (2002–2008) and Albert Lambreaux in the television seriesTreme (2010–2013). He wrote thebook for the musical revueFive Guys Named Moe (1990).

Peters is also known for his roles in the filmsSilver Dream Racer (1980),Endgame (2009),John Wick (2014),Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017),Harriet (2019), andDa 5 Bloods (2020), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for theBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Peters was born Peter Clarke, the second of four sons, in New York City, and grew up inEnglewood, New Jersey. At the age of 12, he had his first theater experience, in a school production ofMy Fair Lady. He began to have serious ambitions to work in the theater at the age of 14.^[2] He graduated fromDwight Morrow High School in 1970.^[3][4]

In 1971, Peters' older brother enabled him to work as a costume designer for a production inParis, France, of the musicalHair, in which Peters later starred.^[2] In 1973, Peters moved toLondon^[2] and changed his name to Clarke Peters, becauseEquity already had a few namesake members.^[1] While in London, he formed a soul band, The Majestics, and worked as a backup singer on such hits as "Love and Affection" byJoan Armatrading, "Boogie Nights" byHeatwave, and someDavid Essex songs. However, music was not Peters' main ambition, and he preferred to work in the theater.^[2]

His firstWest End theatre musical roles, which he received with assistance from his friendNed Sherrin, wereI Gotta Shoe (1976) andBubbling Brown Sugar (1977).^[2] Other West End credits includeBlues in the Night,Porgy and Bess,The Witches of Eastwick,Guys and Dolls,Chicago, andChess. Peters starred in theSean Conneryspace WesternOutland (1981) as the treacherous Sgt. Ballard, and he played an almost wordless role as Anderson, a vicious pimp inNeil Jordan'sMona Lisa (1986).

After writing severalrevues with Sherrin, in 1990 Peters wrote the revueFive Guys Named Moe, which received aTony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical. He followed this up withUnforgettable, a musical aboutNat King Cole, which received scathing reviews.^[1] He also starred in the 2010 British production ofFive Guys Named Moe.^[1]

As a stage actor, Peters has appeared onBroadway, where his performance inThe Iceman Cometh (1999) won him theTheatre World Award, and he portrayed the shady lawyer Billy Flynn in the revival ofChicago in 2000 and 2003. Inregional theatre he has appeared inDriving Miss Daisy,The Wiz,Bubbling Brown Sugar,Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,Carmen Jones, andThe Amen Corner. In September 2011, Peters appeared on stage in aSheffield Crucible Theatre production of Shakespeare'sOthello, playingthe title role opposite hisWire co-starDominic West, who playedIago.^[5] In the 2014 New YorkShakespeare in the Park festival, Peters played Gloucester inKing Lear.^[6]

Peters is familiar to television viewers as DetectiveLester Freamon in theHBO seriesThe Wire. Peters also starred in the HBO mini-seriesThe Corner, portraying a drug addict named Fat Curt, as well as the FX seriesDamages, as Dave Pell. BothThe Wire andThe Corner were created by writer and formerThe Baltimore Sun journalistDavid Simon. Peters also stars in Simon's HBO seriesTreme, in the role ofMardi Gras Indian chief Albert Lambreaux.^[7] Peters appeared in two episodes of the American time-travel/detective TV seriesLife on Mars (2008) as NYPD Captain Fletcher Bellow.^[8]

He also appeared in the British showHolby City, as Derek Newman, the father of nurseDonna Jackson. He voiced a part in theDoctor Who animated episodeDreamland, and in theIn Plain Sight episode "Duplicate Bridge" as a man inWitness Protection named Norman Baker/Norman Danzer. In 2010, Peters readRita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption forBBC 7.^[9] In that year, he also had a guest appearance as Professor Mark Ramsay in the pilot episode of the USA Network TV seriesCovert Affairs.^[10] From 2012 to 2013, Peters had a recurring role as Alonzo D. Quinn in the CBS TV seriesPerson of Interest.

Peters' movie credits includeMona Lisa (1986),Notting Hill (1999),K-PAX (2001),Freedomland (2006),Marley & Me (2008),Endgame (2009; in which he playedNelson Mandela),Nativity! (2009), theSpike Lee filmRed Hook Summer (2012; in which he played Bishop Enoch), andThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

Peters playedEasy Rawlins in a 1997BBC Radio 4 dramatization ofWalter Mosley'sBlack Betty.^[11] He also narrated the BBC radio seriesBlack Music in Europe: A Hidden History,^[12] as well as the audiobook version ofMichael Chabon's novelTelegraph Avenue, released in September 2012 byHarperAudio.^[13]

Peters was politicized by theVietnam War. Shortly before he left for Paris, he was arrested for obstructing police lines after ananti-Vietnam War demonstration but was cleared. He later said of this experience: "It made me more angry than anything else, because what I experienced was how impotent you could be as an American citizen."^[1] While in Paris, Peters received a letter from theFBI accusing him ofdraft evasion. He contested the charge, stating: "If the enemy comes to America, I'll be there, but I don't know the Vietnamese. If you put me in the army, I'm not going there."^[1]

Peters has had five children from three relationships. He and his first wife, Janine Martyne, who sang with him on recordings, had two children: a daughter, China Clarke, an architect, and a son, Peter Clarke, a tattoo artist. A subsequent relationship with Joanna Jacobs produced two sons:Joe Jacobs, an actor,^[2] and Guppy, who died of akidney tumor in 1992, at the age of four.^[1][14] He has a son, Max, with his second wife, Penny Ephson;^[15] Max played the youngMichael Jackson in the West End production of the musicalThriller – Live.^[2]

As of 2012, Peters split his time between a house in theCharles Village section ofBaltimore, which he bought in 2006 while working onThe Wire, and one in London, where Penny and Max live.^[16][17][18]

He is a follower of theBrahma Kumaris.^[19]

Source:^[23]

• Chilton, Martin (July 5, 2013)."Clarke Peters and a journey across music".The Telegraph.
• "20 Questions With... Clarke Peters".What's On Stage. October 23, 2006. Archived fromthe original on February 22, 2014.
• Inskeep, Steve (April 9, 2010)."David Simon And Clarke Peters On 'Treme'".Morning Edition.National Public Radio.
• "Interview: Clarke Peters – Down to the Wire".The Scotsman. August 24, 2009.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toClarke Peters.

• Clarke Peters at theInternet Broadway Database
• Clarke Peters atIMDb

• 1952 births
• Living people
• 20th-century African-American male singers
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American singers
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• American basses
• American expatriates in the United Kingdom
• American expatriate male actors
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American male writers
• American theatre directors
• Brahma Kumaris
• Dwight Morrow High School alumni
• Male actors from Englewood, New Jersey
• Male actors from New York City
• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• Theatre World Award winners

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