Michael Williams The Wire Actor, who played the role of Omar Little, and one of television’s most memorable stars is dead. The New York City apartment, police said Monday the 54 years old actor passed away on September 6.
Williams the iconic Baltimore stick-up man in the groundbreaking television series, sudden death triggered an outpouring of grief among fans and former colleagues.M
Michael representative said it was “with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams.”
“They ask for your privacy while grieving this,” said the statement from Marianna Shafran the publicist.
An officer for the New York Police Department told AFP that Michael Williams had been found dead in his apartment in Brooklyn by a family member.
The Brooklyn native had been widely hailed for his role in gritty thriller “The Wire,” in which he played a gay armed robber who specialized in holding up drug dealers.
The series became one of the most popular shows on television and ran through five seasons from 2002 until 2008.
Thinking about his own mortality – Michael Williams wrote on Instagram recently
Williams was also well-known for the role of Albert ‘Chalky’ White on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”
He received multiple Emmy nominations for his work, including for his turn in the series “Lovecraft Country,” ahead of the 2021 ceremony that will take place in just under two weeks.
Michael Williams was also nominated for his work playing the husband of blues singer Bessie Smith in the 2015 film “Bessie.”
He was additionally a nominee for 2016’s “The Night Of” and for “When They See US” in 2019, about a group of young Black men wrongly accused of rape in Central Park in the 1980s.
“While the world is aware of his immense talents as an artist, we knew Michael as a dear friend who was beloved by all who had the privilege to work with him,” HBO said in a statement.
No official cause of death was given, but several US media quoted law enforcement sources as saying they suspected a possible drug overdose