Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | September 10, 1954
Other names | Clark "Slappy" Jackson, Clarque Johnson, J. Clark Johnson |
Occupation(s) | Actor, director |
Years active | 1981—present |
Clark Johnson (born September 10, 1954)[1] is an American-Canadian actor and director who has worked in both television and film. He is best known for his roles as David Jefferson in Night Heat (1985–1988), Clark Roberts in E.N.G. (1989–1994), Meldrick Lewis in Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) and Augustus Haynes in The Wire (2008).
Early years
Johnson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family later moved to Canada.[2] He has three siblings[2] including jazz singer Molly Johnson and actress and singer Taborah Johnson.
Johnson attended
Career
Johnson started in film doing special effects, including David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone. This behind-the-scenes work often served as a "backup" for him during the early stages of his acting career.
He began performing in feature films in 1981, landing roles in the films Killing 'em Softly, Colors, Wild Thing, Adventures in Babysitting, and Nowhere to Hide. He also acted in a number of television shows early in his career, including The Littlest Hobo, Night Heat, Hot Shots and E.N.G.. He starred in the first episode of The Women of Brewster Place in 1989 as Butch Fuller.
Homicide: Life on the Street
In 1993, Johnson became part of the original cast of the television series
The Wire
Johnson worked on
Alpha House
In 2013, Johnson starred as Sen. Robert Bettencourt (R-PA) in Amazon's Alpha House, a political comedy written by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau.[16] Along with John Goodman, Johnson plays one of four Republican senators living together in a house on Capitol Hill. Johnson also directed the season finale for the show's first season.[17] Johnson spent the summer of 2014 filming season two.
Directing
Johnson's other directing credits include the big-screen releases The Sentinel (2006) and S.W.A.T. (2003), and episodes of Third Watch as well as the HBO original production Boycott (2001), a project which he helmed and in which he also acted. He also directed the first episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 of the 2005 mini-series Sleeper Cell. He also directed the first and last episodes of The Shield, along with other episodes of that series.
Johnson directed the pilot episode of the FX drama Lights Out. The series stars fellow The Wire cast members Pablo Schreiber and Reg E. Cathey and focuses on a retired heavyweight boxing champion.
Johnson is a guest instructor at HB Studio.[18]
Selected filmography
Actor
- Night Heat (1985–1988) as David Jefferson (recurring)
- Adventures in Babysitting (1987) as Black Gang Leader
- Iron Eagle II (1988) as Graves
- Renegades (1989) as J.J.
- E.N.G. TV series as Clarke Roberts (1989–94)
- The Women of Brewster Place (1989 TV Mini Series) as Butch Fuller
- Hammerman as Hammerman (1991)
- North of 60 as Sonny Ross (1993)
- Homicide: Life on the Street TV series as Meldrick Lewis (1993–99)
- Drop Zone (1994) as FBI Agent Bob Covington
- Final Round (1994) as Trevon
- Rude (1995) as Reece
- Soul Survivor (1995) as Busha
- The Planet of Junior Brown (1997)
- Deliberate Intent(2000)
- Homicide: The Movie as Meldrick Lewis(2000)
- Love Come Down as Dean (2000)
- S.W.A.T. as Deke's handsome partner (2003)
- Gus Haynes(2008)
- Nurse.Fighter.Boy as Silence (2008)
- The Shield TV series as Handsome Marshal, episode 7.13 "Family Meeting" (2008)
- Defendor as Captain Fairbanks (2009)
- UnforgettableTV series as Clay Jacobs, episode "Blind Alleys" (2012)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit TV series as Meldrick Lewis, episode 15x05 "Wonderland Story" (2013)
- Alpha House TV series as Senator Robert Bettencourt (2013–2014)
- Bird People (2014) as McCullan
- Hyena Road (2015) as General Rilmen
- Magnum Opus as Robert Cochran (2017)
- Brawl in Cell Block 99 as Detective Watkins (2017)
- Bosch (2018) as Howard Elias
- Seven Seconds (2018) as KJ's father
- 222 (Short) (completed) as The King of Hearts
- Tammy's Always Dying (2019) as Doug
- Evil (2019) as Father Amara
- Daredevil: Born Again (2025) as Cherry
Director
- Homicide: Life on the Street TV series (1996–98)
- Episodes "Map of the Heart" (1996), "Betrayal" (1997), "Valentine's Day" (1997), "Full Court Press" (1998), "The Twenty Percent Solution" (1998)
- Fast Track TV series (1997)
- Welcome to Paradox TV series (1998)
- La Femme Nikita TV series (1998)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit TV series (1999)
- Episode "Sophomore Jinx" (1999)
- NYPD Blue TV series (2000)
- Episode "Lucky Luciano" (2000)
- The West WingTV series (2000)
- Episode "Six Meetings Before Lunch" (2000)
- The Beat TV series (2000)
- Third Watch TV series (2000)
- Episode "Nature or Nurture?" (2000)
- City of Angels TV series (2000)
- The City TV series (2000)
- Boycott (2001)
- The WireTV series (2002–08)
- Episodes 1.01 "–30–" (2008)
- Episodes 1.01 "
- The Shield TV series (2002–08)
- Episodes 1.01 "Pilot", 1.03 "The Spread", 1.05 "Blowback" (2002), 3.01 "Playing Tight", 3.02 "Blood and Water" (2004); 6.04 "The New Guy" (2007), 7.13 "Family Meeting" (2008)
- S.W.A.T. (2003)
- The Secret Service (2004)
- The Jury (2004)
- "Lamentation on the Reservation" (2004)
- N.Y.-70 (2005)
- Sleeper Cell TV series (2005–06)
- Episode "Al-Faitha" (2005), "Al-Bagara" (2006)
- The Sentinel (2006)
- Memphis Beat TV series (2010–11)
- Episode 1.01 "It's All Right Mama"
- King TV series (2011)
- Episodes 1.01 "Lori Gilbert", 1.02 "T-Bone"
- Homeland TV series (2011)
- Episodes 1.05 "Blind Spot", 1.11 "The Vest", 3.03 "Tower of David", 3.05 "The Yoga Play", 4.11 "Krieg Nicht Lieb"
- The Walking Dead
- Episode 2.08 "Nebraska"
- Alpha House TV series (2013)
- "In the Saddle" (2013)
- Black Sails TV series (2015)
- Episodes "X" (2015), "XII" (2015)
- American OdysseyTV series (2015)
- Episodes "Bug Out" (2015), "Real World" (2015)
- Hell on Wheels TV series (2014–2015)
- Episodes "Bear Man (2014), "Struck" (2015)
- Mad Dogs TV series (2016)
- Episode "Flares" (2016)
- Luke Cage TV series (2016)
- Episodes "For Pete's Sake" (2018)
- Episodes "
- Shut EyeTV series (2016)
- Episode "The Tower - Reversed" (2016)
- Six TV miniseries (2017)
- Episode "Confession" (2017)
- Taken TV series (2017)
- Episode "A Clockwork Swiss" (2017)
- The Purge TV series (2018)
- Episode "Release The Beast" (2018)
- Juanita (2019)
- ‘’City on a Hill’’ TV series (2019-2021)
- Episode “High on the Looming Gallows Tree” (2019)
- Episode "Apophasis" (2021)
- Episode "Pax Bostonia" (2021)
- Percy (2020)
- Your HonorTV miniseries (2020)
- Part Four (2020)
- Mayor of Kingstown TV series (2021)
- Episode: "Along Came a Spider"
- Episode: "The Devil Is Us"
- Alaska Daily TV series (2022)
- Episode: "It's Not Personal"
- Accused TV series (2023)
- Episode: "Kendall's Story"
- Daredevil: Born Again TV series (2025)
Awards and Nominations
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series | The Shield | Nominated |
2018 | Canadian Screen Awards | Earle Grey Award | Won | |
2017 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Directing, Drama Series | Luke Cage | Nominated |
2019 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Directing, TV Movie/Limited Series | Juanita | Nominated |
2017 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Directing, Drama Series | The Get Down | Nominated |
References
- ^ "Clark Johnson Biography". Filmreference.com.
- ^ a b Lee, Felicia R. (January 4, 2008). "Bittersweet Work of Wrapping 'Wire'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
- ^ a b Miller, Denene (April 14, 1996). "Life Off The Street 'Homicide' Takes A Break But TV Cop Clark Johnson Is Far From Idle". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- Public Broadcasting Service.
- ^ Clark Johnson (director), James Yoshimura, Michael Whaley (writers) (April 26, 1996). "Map of the Heart". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 4. Episode 19. NBC.
- ^ a b David Simon (1998). Homicide: Life on the Street Season 4 interviews (DVD). NBC.
- ^ Clark Johnson (director), Tom Fontana, Julie Martin, Gay Walch (writers) (January 10, 1997). "Betrayal". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 5. Episode 12. NBC.
- ^ Clark Johnson (director), Tom Fontana (writer) (February 14, 1997). "Valentine's Day". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 5. Episode 16. NBC.
- ^ Clark Johnson (director), David Simon, Philip B. Epstein (writers) (April 3, 1998). "Full Court Press". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 6. Episode 18. NBC.
- ^ Clark Johnson (director), David Simon (writer) (October 30, 1998). "The Twenty Percent Solution". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 7. Episode 04. NBC.
- ^ "Episode guide – episode 01 The Target". HBO. 1996. Retrieved July 24, 2006.
- The Wire. Season 1. Episode 1. HBO.
- ^ "Episode guide – episode 02 The Detail". HBO. 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2006.
- The Detail". The Wire. Season 1. Episode 2. HBO.
- ^ Wiltz, Teresa (September 3, 2001). "Down to "The Wire": It's a Wrap for Gritty TV Series". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (November 14, 2013). "Alpha House: TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
- ^ Clark Johnson - IMDb
- ^ "HB Studio".
External links
- Clark Johnson at IMDb
- 2008 interview on Fresh Air