Clark Johnson (born September 10, 1954) 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 on Night Heat (1985–88), Clark Roberts on E.N.G. (1989–94), Meldrick Lewis in Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), Augustus Haynes in The Wire (2008), and Cherry Pitts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Daredevil: Born Again (2025–present).

Johnson was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of The Shield. He was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actor for Nurse.Fighter.Boy (2008) and Best Supporting Actor for Rude (1995). At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards, he received the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement.

Early years Johnson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to an Afro-Caribbean father from Trinidad and Tobago and a white mother. The family later moved to Canada. He has three siblings including jazz singer Molly Johnson and actress and singer Taborah Johnson.

Johnson attended Eastern Michigan University on a partial athletic scholarship for American football, but he was expelled after he was caught stealing food from the school cafeteria. He attended several other universities including the University of Ottawa and Loyola College/Concordia University, where he played Canadian football, before ending up at the Ontario College of Art as a film major. He was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in the seventh round of the 1978 CFL draft but ultimately did not play professionally.

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 Homicide: Life on the Street playing Detective Meldrick Lewis for all seven seasons and the reunion movie, as well as directing several episodes. Johnson regularly improvised during filming and made up his own jokes and dialogue; writer and producer James Yoshimura called Clark the "king of the ad lib". Although the ensemble nature of the show meant that Johnson never played a minor role, he became an even larger presence after his character was paired with a new partner, Mike Kellerman (played by Reed Diamond). The two detectives became the central figures in a plot line surrounding a Baltimore drug lord whose financial resources and front as a devoted community servant make it nearly impossible for the police department to charge him. Johnson made the transition to director with the season four episode "Map of the Heart". He also directed "Betrayal", "Valentine's Day", "Full Court Press" and "The Twenty Percent Solution". David Simon, the author of the non-fiction book Homicide was based upon, as well as a writer and producer for the series, commented that the transition from actor to director was made easy by Johnson's familiarity with the show and that he was one of the better directors in terms of keeping the tone of the show consistent. In 2013, Johnson made a brief cameo as Lewis in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Wonderland Story" when the squad are at a retirement party for John Munch (Richard Belzer).

The Wire Johnson worked on The Wire, reuniting with writer David Simon. Johnson directed the pilot episode "The Target", the second and fifth first-season episodes, and the series finale. He plays Augustus Haynes, the dedicated and principled editor for The Baltimore Sun city desk.

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. 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. 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 directed the first and last episodes of The Shield, along with other episodes of that series. He directed two episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Luke Cage (2016-2018).

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.

Filmography Actor + Film acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1987 Adventures in Babysitting Black Gang Leader 1988 Iron Eagle II CPT. Richie Graves 1989 Renegades J.J.1994 Drop Zone FBI Agent Bob Covington Final Round Trevon1995 Rude Reece Soul Survivor Busha 1997 The Planet of Junior BrownMr. Pool 2000 Love Come Down Dean 2003 S.W.A.T. Deke's handsome partnerCameo appearance 2006 The Sentinel Charlie Merriweather 2008 Nurse.Fighter.Boy Silence 2009 Defendor Captain Fairbanks 2014 Bird People McCullan 2015 Hyena Road General Rilmen2017 Magnum Opus Robert Cochran Brawl in Cell Block 99 Detective Watkins 2018 222 The King of Hearts Short film 2019 Tammy's Always Dying Doug 2025 Late Fame Arnold 2026 Mayday + Television acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1985–88 Night Heat David Jefferson 18 episodes 1986 Hot Shots Al Pendleton 13 episodes 1988–92 Katts and Dog Lennie 3 episodes 1989 The Women of Brewster Place Butch Fuller 2 episodes 1989–94 E.N.G. Clarke Roberts 14 episodes 1991–92 Hammerman Hammerman (voice) 11 episodes 1993 North of 60 Sonny Ross Episode "Southern Comfort" 1993–99 Homicide: Life on the Street Meldrick Lewis 122 episodes 1998 Cold Squad Derrick Clark 2 episodes2000 Deliberate Intent James Perry Television film Homicide: The Movie Meldrick Lewis 2002 Soul Food Terrell Episode: "Lovers and Other Strangers" 2005 Tripping the Wire: A Stephen Tree Mystery Stephen Tree Television film2008 The Wire Gus Haynes 10 episodes The Shield Handsome Marshal Episode "Family Meeting" 2009 Crash & Burn Walker Hearn 5 episodes 2012 Unforgettable Clay Jacobs Episode "Blind Alleys" 2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Meldrick Lewis Episode "Wonderland Story" 2013–14 Alpha House Sen. Robert Bettencourt 21 episodes2018 Bosch Howard Elias 4 episodes Seven Seconds KJ's father Episode "That What Follows" 2019 Evil Father Amara 4 episodes 2025–present Daredevil: Born Again Clark "Cherry" Pitts 11 episodes

Director

+ Film directing credits Year Title Notes 2003 S.W.A.T. 2006 The Sentinel 2019 Juanita 2020Percy + Television directing credits Year Title Notes1996–98Homicide: Life on the Street 1997 Fast Track1998 Welcome to Paradox La Femme Nikita 1999 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode: "Sophomore Jinx"2000 NYPD Blue Episode: "Lucky Luciano" The West Wing Episode: "Six Meetings Before Lunch" The Beat Third Watch Episode: "Nature or Nurture?" City of Angels The City 2001 Boycott Television film2002–08The Wire The Shield 2004 The Jury Episode: "Lamentation on the Reservation" The Secret Service Television film 2005 N.Y.-70 Television film2005–06Sleeper Cell 2010–11 Memphis Beat Episode: "It's All Right Mama"King 2011Homeland 2012 The Walking Dead Episode: "Nebraska" 2013 Alpha House Episode: "In the Saddle"2014–15Hell on Wheels 2015Black Sails American Odyssey 2016 Mad Dogs Episode: "Flares" Shut Eye Episode: "The Tower - Reversed"2016–18Luke Cage 2017 Six Episode: "Confession" Taken Episode: "A Clockwork Swiss" 2018 The Purge Episode: "Release The Beast"2019–21City on a Hill 2020 Your Honor Episode: "Part Four"2021Mayor of Kingstown 2022 Alaska Daily Episode: "It's Not Personal"2023–24Accused

Awards and nominations +InstitutionYearCategoryWorkResultACTRA Awards2009Outstanding Performance - MaleNurse.Fighter.BoyBlack Reel Awards2007Outstanding DirectorThe Sentinel2017Outstanding Directing, Drama SeriesLuke Cage2019Outstanding Directing, TV Movie/Limited SeriesJuanita2017Outstanding Directing, Drama SeriesThe Get DownCanadian Screen Awards2018Earle Grey AwardGemini Awards1995Best Guest Performance in a Dramatic SeriesE.N.G.Genie Awards1996Best Supporting Actor"Two films divide Genie spoils". The Globe and Mail, January 15, 1996.Rude2010Best ActorNurse.Fighter.BoyNAACP Image Awards1999Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesHomicide: Life on the StreetPrimetime Emmy Awards2002Outstanding Directing for a Drama SeriesThe Shield ("Pilot")

References

External links

2008 interview on Fresh Air