D'Angelo Barksdale
Encyclopedia
D'Angelo "D" Barksdale is a fictional character
on the HBO drama The Wire
played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr.
D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale
and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore. The amorality and ruthlessness of the drug trade gradually wears on his conscience, bringing him into conflict with the Barksdale leadership, most notably Stringer Bell
.
; his mother Brianna is also a high-ranking advisor. Prior to the series, D'Angelo controlled the high-rise tower of 221 West Fremont, a major drug market. He was confronted by dealer "Pooh" Blanchard in the lobby and, in a panic, shot him in front of civilian witnesses. He was quickly arrested and served 8 months in county jail before, in the series premiere, standing trial for this murder, represented by the organization's lawyer Maurice Levy
. Though one witness, William Gant, willingly testifies, the organization has scared and/or bribed the other witness, Nakeesha Lyles, to recant her testimony. D'Angelo is thus acquitted. As punishment for his carelessness, Avon demotes D'Angelo to the low rise projects known as "The Pit", where his crew consists of Bodie Broadus
, Poot Carr
, Wallace
, Cass and Sterling.
Over the course of the season, D'Angelo grows more and more ambivalent about the drug trade. When William Gant turns up dead, D'Angelo is shaken, assuming Avon had it done as revenge for testifying. He is brought in for questioning by detectives Jimmy McNulty
and Bunk Moreland
, who trick him into writing a letter of apology to Gant's family. Levy arrives and stops him before he can write anything incriminating, and he is released. He questions his uncle, who evades his accusations and persuades him to remain loyal to the family.
D'Angelo is very hesitant about discipline (such as the brutal beating of Johnny Weeks, or punishing dealers Cass and Sterling for stealing small amounts).
D'Angelo is also unwittingly involved in a second murder, Avon's girlfriend Deirdre Kresson. When cooperating with the police department after his arrest they question him about this murder. D'Angelo claims he had delivered drugs to Kresson and been a distraction while Wee-Bey Brice
killed her. Wee-Bey gladly takes the blame for this and other murders that were unsolved at the time of his arrest since he was facing life without parole either way. Earlier in the season, D'Angelo had falsely claimed responsibility for killing Kresson himself, apparently in an attempt to impress his subordinates Bodie, Poot and Wallace.
D'Angelo has a son, Tyrell, by girlfriend Donette. She wants him to move in with her, but her nagging often drives him away. D'Angelo begins dating a dancer from his uncle's strip club, Shardene Innes, and lives with her for a short time, until Shardene finds out about Keesha, another stripper. The police tell her that Keesha had overdosed, died, and was left in a dumpster after attending a Barksdale crew party. She accuses D'Angelo of seeing her as trash that could easily be discarded, and moves out. She goes on to cooperate with the police unit investigating the Barksdale clan.
Under D'Angelo's firm leadership, The Pit begins to turn a good profit. It nevertheless becomes a cause for concern when its stash is stolen by Omar Little
, and, the next day, the police raid. (Their information is slightly outdated, and they raid a now abandoned stash house, but Detective Lester Freamon
finds D'Angelo's pager number on a wall.)
Stringer chastises D'Angelo for his sloppiness, and Avon places a bounty on Omar's crew. Wallace and Poot identify Omar's boyfriend, Brandon, in an arcade; D'Angelo relays the message to Stringer, who has Brandon captured, tortured and killed. Wallace becomes haunted by his role in the death of Brandon.
Relating to Wallace's aversion to the violence of their trade, D'Angelo develops a friendship with Wallace. When Wallace wants to leave the business after seeing the mutilated body of Brandon, D'Angelo is supportive and gives him money. Stringer begins asking after Wallace; D'Angelo senses that the boy is in trouble and asks Avon to leave him alone, reassuring him that Wallace is no danger to the organization. When Wallace returns and asks for his old job back, D'Angelo tries to get him to leave, but is unable to save him. Wallace is killed at Bell's orders, though D'Angelo remains unaware that Bodie and Poot killed him.
Based indirectly on information Shardene provided to the police, D'Angelo is arrested while running drugs from New York, and again interrogated. McNulty tells him Wallace is dead. D'Angelo remembers the trick from before that got him writing a letter to the fictional kids of Mr. Gant and doesn't believe him at first. Stringer Bell comes to talk to him and refuses to answer the question "where's Wallace?" Stringer warns D'Angelo to shut his mouth which confirms in D'Angelo's mind what had happened. He grows angry and tells Stringer he doesn't want to use the family lawyer, permanently driving a wedge in their already fractured relationship. D'Angelo is furious at the murder of Wallace and briefly turns state's witness against the Organization. He tells them where Wee-Bey has fled to after shooting a police officer, and offers numerous details of his uncle's organization. However, a visit from his mother convinces him of his duty to his family, and he backs out of the deal. Due to his refusal to cooperate, he is sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. While serving his sentence, he says the best he can hope for is 10 years before a possibility for parole.
Stringer Bell grows afraid that D'Angelo may inform on the organization, knowing how close he had previously been. He hires a contract killer from DC, who in turn arranges for a prisoner to strangle D'Angelo with a belt in the back room of the library, while the murder is disguised as suicide. No investigation is launched, although McNulty becomes convinced that it was a murder when he is belatedly informed about it. The family continue to believe it was a suicide until Stringer finally tells Avon towards the end of Season 3.
His favorite beverage appears to be Ginger Ale
, as he is seen asking for and drinking it numerous times throughout the course of season 1.
, the first African-American player of the ABA/NBA team Baltimore Bullets.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the HBO drama The Wire
The Wire (TV series)
The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr.
Larry Gilliard Jr.
Lawrence "Larry" Gilliard, Jr. is an American character actor who has appeared in films, television series and theatre. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of D'Angelo Barksdale on the HBO drama series The Wire, a role which earned him much critical acclaim.Gilliard was born in New York City...
D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...
and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore. The amorality and ruthlessness of the drug trade gradually wears on his conscience, bringing him into conflict with the Barksdale leadership, most notably Stringer Bell
Stringer Bell
Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment...
.
Season 1
D'Angelo Barksdale is a high-ranking lieutenant in the criminal organization of his uncle Avon BarksdaleAvon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...
; his mother Brianna is also a high-ranking advisor. Prior to the series, D'Angelo controlled the high-rise tower of 221 West Fremont, a major drug market. He was confronted by dealer "Pooh" Blanchard in the lobby and, in a panic, shot him in front of civilian witnesses. He was quickly arrested and served 8 months in county jail before, in the series premiere, standing trial for this murder, represented by the organization's lawyer Maurice Levy
Maurice Levy (The Wire)
Maurice "Maury" Levy is a fictional lawyer on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Michael Kostroff. He is a skilled defense attorney and was kept on retainer by the drug-trafficking Barksdale Organization, representing the organization's members at trials and advising Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell...
. Though one witness, William Gant, willingly testifies, the organization has scared and/or bribed the other witness, Nakeesha Lyles, to recant her testimony. D'Angelo is thus acquitted. As punishment for his carelessness, Avon demotes D'Angelo to the low rise projects known as "The Pit", where his crew consists of Bodie Broadus
Bodie Broadus
Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
, Poot Carr
Poot Carr
Malik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him...
, Wallace
Wallace (The Wire)
Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr...
, Cass and Sterling.
Over the course of the season, D'Angelo grows more and more ambivalent about the drug trade. When William Gant turns up dead, D'Angelo is shaken, assuming Avon had it done as revenge for testifying. He is brought in for questioning by detectives Jimmy McNulty
Jimmy McNulty
Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish American detective in the Baltimore Police Department...
and Bunk Moreland
Bunk Moreland
William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer and nicknamed "the Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who...
, who trick him into writing a letter of apology to Gant's family. Levy arrives and stops him before he can write anything incriminating, and he is released. He questions his uncle, who evades his accusations and persuades him to remain loyal to the family.
D'Angelo is very hesitant about discipline (such as the brutal beating of Johnny Weeks, or punishing dealers Cass and Sterling for stealing small amounts).
D'Angelo is also unwittingly involved in a second murder, Avon's girlfriend Deirdre Kresson. When cooperating with the police department after his arrest they question him about this murder. D'Angelo claims he had delivered drugs to Kresson and been a distraction while Wee-Bey Brice
Wee-Bey Brice
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides....
killed her. Wee-Bey gladly takes the blame for this and other murders that were unsolved at the time of his arrest since he was facing life without parole either way. Earlier in the season, D'Angelo had falsely claimed responsibility for killing Kresson himself, apparently in an attempt to impress his subordinates Bodie, Poot and Wallace.
D'Angelo has a son, Tyrell, by girlfriend Donette. She wants him to move in with her, but her nagging often drives him away. D'Angelo begins dating a dancer from his uncle's strip club, Shardene Innes, and lives with her for a short time, until Shardene finds out about Keesha, another stripper. The police tell her that Keesha had overdosed, died, and was left in a dumpster after attending a Barksdale crew party. She accuses D'Angelo of seeing her as trash that could easily be discarded, and moves out. She goes on to cooperate with the police unit investigating the Barksdale clan.
Under D'Angelo's firm leadership, The Pit begins to turn a good profit. It nevertheless becomes a cause for concern when its stash is stolen by Omar Little
Omar Little
Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game"....
, and, the next day, the police raid. (Their information is slightly outdated, and they raid a now abandoned stash house, but Detective Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit...
finds D'Angelo's pager number on a wall.)
Stringer chastises D'Angelo for his sloppiness, and Avon places a bounty on Omar's crew. Wallace and Poot identify Omar's boyfriend, Brandon, in an arcade; D'Angelo relays the message to Stringer, who has Brandon captured, tortured and killed. Wallace becomes haunted by his role in the death of Brandon.
Relating to Wallace's aversion to the violence of their trade, D'Angelo develops a friendship with Wallace. When Wallace wants to leave the business after seeing the mutilated body of Brandon, D'Angelo is supportive and gives him money. Stringer begins asking after Wallace; D'Angelo senses that the boy is in trouble and asks Avon to leave him alone, reassuring him that Wallace is no danger to the organization. When Wallace returns and asks for his old job back, D'Angelo tries to get him to leave, but is unable to save him. Wallace is killed at Bell's orders, though D'Angelo remains unaware that Bodie and Poot killed him.
Based indirectly on information Shardene provided to the police, D'Angelo is arrested while running drugs from New York, and again interrogated. McNulty tells him Wallace is dead. D'Angelo remembers the trick from before that got him writing a letter to the fictional kids of Mr. Gant and doesn't believe him at first. Stringer Bell comes to talk to him and refuses to answer the question "where's Wallace?" Stringer warns D'Angelo to shut his mouth which confirms in D'Angelo's mind what had happened. He grows angry and tells Stringer he doesn't want to use the family lawyer, permanently driving a wedge in their already fractured relationship. D'Angelo is furious at the murder of Wallace and briefly turns state's witness against the Organization. He tells them where Wee-Bey has fled to after shooting a police officer, and offers numerous details of his uncle's organization. However, a visit from his mother convinces him of his duty to his family, and he backs out of the deal. Due to his refusal to cooperate, he is sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. While serving his sentence, he says the best he can hope for is 10 years before a possibility for parole.
Season 2
While in prison with Avon and Wee-Bey, D'Angelo turns to snorting heroin. Though he is distant from his uncle, Avon still protects him, and gets him a cushy job in the prison library. Wee-Bey is being harassed by a guard named Dwight Tilghman, who is involved in the prison drug trade. Avon arranges to have his heroin supply laced with rat poison, and advises D'Angelo to stay off the drug for a few days to prove he's not an addict, but does not tell D'Angelo of the plan. Had D'Angelo not taken his uncle's advice he could easily have died himself. At least one of the inmates D'Angelo was friendly with accepted doses of the tainted drugs. After five prisoners die and eight more are in the infirmary, Avon testifies against Tilghman and receives a reduced sentence. D'Angelo refuses to take part in the plan and, disgusted by his uncle's immorality, declares that he wants nothing more to do with his family.Stringer Bell grows afraid that D'Angelo may inform on the organization, knowing how close he had previously been. He hires a contract killer from DC, who in turn arranges for a prisoner to strangle D'Angelo with a belt in the back room of the library, while the murder is disguised as suicide. No investigation is launched, although McNulty becomes convinced that it was a murder when he is belatedly informed about it. The family continue to believe it was a suicide until Stringer finally tells Avon towards the end of Season 3.
His favorite beverage appears to be Ginger Ale
Ginger ale
Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger. Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles...
, as he is seen asking for and drinking it numerous times throughout the course of season 1.
Critical response
A San Francisco Chronicle review picked the scene of D'Angelo instructing Bodie and Wallace on the rules of chess as one of the first season's finest moments. They praised the character of D'Angelo and the show's portrayal of his difficulties as "middle management" in the drug organization: having to deal with unreliable subordinates, demanding superiors, and his own conscience.Other
His name is a tribute to Donald Angelo BarksdaleDon Barksdale
Donald Angelo "Don" Barksdale was a professional basketball player. He was a pioneer with a number of African-American firsts to his credit.-Early life:...
, the first African-American player of the ABA/NBA team Baltimore Bullets.