Darnell "J. D." Williams (born May 22, 1978) is an American actor known for his starring roles in theHBO television programsOz asKenny Wangler,The Wire asBodie Broadus andPootie Tang as Froggy,Surviving Family (2012) as Bobby,The Good Wife (2010–2015) as Dexter, and in the main cast ofSaints & Sinners. He also starred inBlood Brother (2018) as Kayvon.

Williams was born inNewark, New Jersey. He attendedNewark Arts High School, a performing arts public school in Newark.^[2] He portrayed abiracial 15-year-old dealing withracism and his father'sinfidelity in the playA.M. Sunday in late 2003 at Baltimore'sCenterstage theater.^[3] He had a number of cameos and leading roles inR&B andhip-hop music videos between 2002 and 2005.^[4][5]

Williams appeared inHomicide: Life on the Street, a show based on a book byThe Wire creatorDavid Simon, where he guest-starred as Casper in the episode "The Why Chromosome".^[6] He had a small guest starring role inThe Sopranos episode "46 Long" asSpecial K, an incompetentstickup man and one ofBrendan Filone's goons.^[5] He went on to play series regular, inmateKenny Wangler, in the first four seasons ofOz.^[7] He then appeared in HBOsThe Wire asBodie Broadus, aBarksdale Organization drug dealer who slowly rises through the ranks throughout the seasons.^[7][8] In preparation for the role, he walked aroundBaltimore's inner city during the middle of the night a few days before the first taping; talking about this toAllHipHop, Williams stated "it was like 12 or 1:00 in the morning. I just threw on a black hoodie and walked around. I went to one of their hoods and watched that night. I learned not to do that no more, I was lucky I made it back that night."^[5] He is older than his character by eight years.^[4]

According to his original HBO bio, he is credited with appearing in the filmGraffiti Bridge, but a 2003 interview with AllHipHop revealed that Williams was not in the movie.^[5] The page no longer exists, however.Tevin Campbell filled the cameo role with which Williams was credited.

Williams has had leading roles or cameo appearances in a number ofR&B andhip-hopmusic videos. He has appeared as himself, a love interest, and characters resembling his role as adrug dealer onThe Wire.^[4][5]

In 2012, Williams had a major supporting role in the indie filmSurviving Family as the ex-boyfriend of the main character. His character was a wounded veteran of the war in Iraq who had lost an eye in an IED attack and suffered from PTSD.

He has starred in a number of commercials, and played a delivery man in aFedEx commercial.^[9] He appeared as Lemond Bishop's Lieutenant "Dexter" in episodes ofThe Good Wife.

• J. D. Williams atIMDb

• Living people
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• Male actors from Newark, New Jersey
• Newark Arts High School alumni
• 1978 births
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century African-American male actors

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2014
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