Kenny Wangler
Encyclopedia
Kenny "Bricks" Wangler is a fictional character in the HBO drama Oz
, played by actor J.D. Williams.
He was sent to prison for murdering a student he was attempting to rob. His constant macho bravado, disrespect for older prisoners, and drug addiction, among other things, make him particularly unsympathetic. He has an uneasy relationship with Homeboy gang leader, Simon Adebisi
throughout the series, which oscillates between loyal camaraderie and public antagonism. Adebisi routinely sexually harasses his constant sidekick, but freely shares the drugs.
by telling him he loved his book, Said tries to convert him to Islam
, but his heroin addiction keeps him off the straight and narrow path. Adebisi suggests to current Homeboy leader Jefferson Keane
to let him in so that the Homeboys can more easily wipe out the Italians. He helps Adebisi seriously injure Italian
Joey D'Angelo
in the kitchen and proves that he has a place in the gang. He robs elderly inmate Bob Rebadow
for no apparent reason, for which Unit Manager Tim McManus
chokes him. Throughout the season up to the riot, Wangler remains a key drug dealer and user who goes through severe withdrawal
during the riot.
ed by the guards. He is let back into Em City, and McManus tells him to get his GED
instead of mopping floors. In the classroom, Wangler is disrespectful and verbally berates several inmates, especially Poet, who has a talent for writing. He almost flips out when asked to read and then it is discovered that he is illiterate. McManus proposes that he learn how to read instead of going to the hole to Warden Glynn and his behavior improves as he becomes more literate. Adebisi, however, is not amused by Wangler getting more educated so he forces him to stop going to class and tears up a book that McManus gave him. Wangler's behavior worsens as a result, and he is not allowed to walk the stage at graduation when McManus decides he is too much of a discipline problem. Wangler then gets back into the routine, even making peace with Poet and berates the Italian inmates after Adebisi takes out their most powerful members.
As Adebisi becomes increasingly unstable, it becomes clear that he cannot lead the Homeboys. The Italians offer Wangler a partnership if he kills Jara, the man responsible for salvaging Adebisi. He kills Jara with the help of Junior Pierce
, his main sidekick in the Homeboys. Adebisi goes to the psych ward as a result. Also, Poet comes back to Oz after killing a man while on parole and Wangler and Pierce are the only ones who accept him upon his return.
arrives and becomes friends with Wangler. Coyle is beaten by the entire gang in the gym as a loyalty test that is often performed in their housing project neighborhoods. Wangler proves that he is worthy of being in their gang to Antonio Nappa
. Adebisi is released from the psych ward and the other Homeboys, especially Wangler and Pierce, plot to kill him. Nappa, however, tells them to stand back for the time being. Wangler is upset when Coyle is kicked out of the kitchen on Nappa's suspicions. Later Augustus Hill
testifies against Coyle for murdering an Italian-American family, and Wangler seeks revenge. With the help of Kareem Said
, Antonio Nappa
, Carmen Guerra
, and Vernon Schillinger
, Hill is protected and Coyle is killed by the Italians so that the Homeboys learn a lesson about seeking revenge.
Taking the new moniker of "Bricks
", Wangler represents the Homeboys in the boxing tournament and falls quickly to heavier, fitter Muslim inmate Hamid Khan
. Wangler and Poet, angered at the loss to the Muslims, expose Kareem Said
for having sexual thoughts about a white woman. As a result Said is deemed unfit to run the Muslims. Later, Wangler's mother visits, telling him that his wife is cheating on him with a man he despises, who is also assaulting his infant son. He has Pierce make a phone call to their outside connections, who murder his wife and her boyfriend. Feigning grief
, he attends the funeral. While he is gone, Adebisi cuts a deal with Chucky Pancamo
, who is now the head of the Italians, and with the help of the Latinos, burned Poet and Pierce severely. Adebisi is Wangler's cellmate now, and he is at his old enemy's mercy. Adebisi ties Wangler to the bed naked on a daily basis to prevent him from defending himself against rape. It is not clear as to whether or not Adebisi did indeed rape Wangler but it was very possible as Adebisi's sexual preference involved forcing sex upon young African American
men much like Wangler. He then forces Wangler to accuse Tim McManus
of sexual harassment
. McManus transfers Wangler to Unit B and Wangler accepts Adebisi's plan to get rid of McManus and have a black man run Em City. Poet and Pierce get out of the hospital wanting to kill Adebisi, but Wangler tells them to cool off for the time being. On New Year's Eve
, amid the racial tension, Wangler, Poet, and Pierce lead the Black inmates in a chant throughout Unit B to set Augustus Hill
free from solitary.
, arrives in Oz and is an immediate target for Wangler, Poet, and Pierce; they steal his shoes and bully him regularly. Seeing this, Adebisi places the gun in his cell, and the next day Tarrant kills Wangler and Pierce, in addition to another black inmate and Correctional Officer Joseph Howard before committing suicide
. Wangler's death, however, falls perfectly into Adebisi's plans of revenge on them for killing Jara, and to get a black Unit Manager hired, as three black prisoners and a black officer died at the hands of a white amidst a shootout.
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
, played by actor J.D. Williams.
Character overview
Prisoner #97W566. Convicted July 6, 1997 - murder in the first degree (16 years old tried as an adult). Sentence: 20 years, eligible for parole in six.He was sent to prison for murdering a student he was attempting to rob. His constant macho bravado, disrespect for older prisoners, and drug addiction, among other things, make him particularly unsympathetic. He has an uneasy relationship with Homeboy gang leader, Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz, set in an experimental prison unit.-Character overview:Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree...
throughout the series, which oscillates between loyal camaraderie and public antagonism. Adebisi routinely sexually harasses his constant sidekick, but freely shares the drugs.
Season 1
Wangler is sent to Oz for murder and is immediately seen as a target. After he compliments Kareem SaidKareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
by telling him he loved his book, Said tries to convert him to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, but his heroin addiction keeps him off the straight and narrow path. Adebisi suggests to current Homeboy leader Jefferson Keane
Jefferson Keane
Jefferson Keane aka Tizi Ozuo is a fictional character in the HBO prison drama Oz played by American actor Leon Robinson.-Character overview:...
to let him in so that the Homeboys can more easily wipe out the Italians. He helps Adebisi seriously injure Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Joey D'Angelo
Joey D'Angelo
-Character overview:He appears in Season 1 assisting Nino Schibetta in their many operations throughout Oz.-Season 1:The Italians run the kitchen and drug trade in Oz. D'Angelo is a soldier of the Italians taking orders mainly from Nino Schibetta. He overlooks the black inmates, the Homeboys led by...
in the kitchen and proves that he has a place in the gang. He robs elderly inmate Bob Rebadow
Bob Rebadow
Robert 'Bob' Rebadow is a fictional character from the television series Oz, a drama series on HBO that portrays a maximum security prison and follows the lives of the inmates in the prison. He is portrayed by George Morfogen.-Character overview:...
for no apparent reason, for which Unit Manager Tim McManus
Tim McManus
Tim McManus is a fictional character on HBO's prison drama Oz, played by Terry Kinney.-Character overview:McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as...
chokes him. Throughout the season up to the riot, Wangler remains a key drug dealer and user who goes through severe withdrawal
Withdrawal
Withdrawal can refer to any sort of separation, but is most commonly used to describe the group of symptoms that occurs upon the abrupt discontinuation/separation or a decrease in dosage of the intake of medications, recreational drugs, and alcohol...
during the riot.
Season 2
In General Population, Wangler goes through severe heroin withdrawal and is assaultAssault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
ed by the guards. He is let back into Em City, and McManus tells him to get his GED
GED
General Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...
instead of mopping floors. In the classroom, Wangler is disrespectful and verbally berates several inmates, especially Poet, who has a talent for writing. He almost flips out when asked to read and then it is discovered that he is illiterate. McManus proposes that he learn how to read instead of going to the hole to Warden Glynn and his behavior improves as he becomes more literate. Adebisi, however, is not amused by Wangler getting more educated so he forces him to stop going to class and tears up a book that McManus gave him. Wangler's behavior worsens as a result, and he is not allowed to walk the stage at graduation when McManus decides he is too much of a discipline problem. Wangler then gets back into the routine, even making peace with Poet and berates the Italian inmates after Adebisi takes out their most powerful members.
As Adebisi becomes increasingly unstable, it becomes clear that he cannot lead the Homeboys. The Italians offer Wangler a partnership if he kills Jara, the man responsible for salvaging Adebisi. He kills Jara with the help of Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce, played by Malé B. Alexander is a fictional character on the American HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:Pierce is an enforcer of the Homeboys, Oz's main African-American prison gang...
, his main sidekick in the Homeboys. Adebisi goes to the psych ward as a result. Also, Poet comes back to Oz after killing a man while on parole and Wangler and Pierce are the only ones who accept him upon his return.
Season 3
Malcolm CoyleMalcolm Coyle
Malcolm "Snake" Coyle is a prisoner on the television show Oz played by Treach of the rap group Naughty By Nature.-Character overview:Prisoner #99C122. Convicted January 17, 1999 - Grand larceny, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a police officer...
arrives and becomes friends with Wangler. Coyle is beaten by the entire gang in the gym as a loyalty test that is often performed in their housing project neighborhoods. Wangler proves that he is worthy of being in their gang to Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa is a fictional character played by Mark Margolis on the HBO dramatic series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #98N744. Convicted June 4, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 80 years, eligible for parole in 50...
. Adebisi is released from the psych ward and the other Homeboys, especially Wangler and Pierce, plot to kill him. Nappa, however, tells them to stand back for the time being. Wangler is upset when Coyle is kicked out of the kitchen on Nappa's suspicions. Later Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill is a fictional character, played by Harold Perrineau on the American television show Oz, serving as the show's narrator.-Character overview:...
testifies against Coyle for murdering an Italian-American family, and Wangler seeks revenge. With the help of Kareem Said
Kareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
, Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa is a fictional character played by Mark Margolis on the HBO dramatic series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #98N744. Convicted June 4, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 80 years, eligible for parole in 50...
, Carmen Guerra
Carmen Guerra
Carmen "Chico" Guerra is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz, played by Otto Sanchez.-Character overview:Prisoner #96G522. Convicted June 4, 1996 - Murder in the first degree...
, and Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...
, Hill is protected and Coyle is killed by the Italians so that the Homeboys learn a lesson about seeking revenge.
Taking the new moniker of "Bricks
Bricks
Bricks may refer to:* Brick, an artificial stone made by forming clay into rectangular blocks* Brick , a slang term for a device that cannot function due to internal failure...
", Wangler represents the Homeboys in the boxing tournament and falls quickly to heavier, fitter Muslim inmate Hamid Khan
Hamid Khan
Hamid Khan, played by Ernie Hudson Jr., is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz.- Character overview :Prisoner #99K515. Convicted March 6, 1999 - Aggravated assault. Sentence: 10 years, eligible for parole in five....
. Wangler and Poet, angered at the loss to the Muslims, expose Kareem Said
Kareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
for having sexual thoughts about a white woman. As a result Said is deemed unfit to run the Muslims. Later, Wangler's mother visits, telling him that his wife is cheating on him with a man he despises, who is also assaulting his infant son. He has Pierce make a phone call to their outside connections, who murder his wife and her boyfriend. Feigning grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
, he attends the funeral. While he is gone, Adebisi cuts a deal with Chucky Pancamo
Chucky Pancamo
Charles "Chucky The Enforcer" Pancamo is a fictional character, played by Chuck Zito, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97P468. Convicted June 4, 1997 - Second degree murder. Sentence: 35 years, eligible for parole in 15....
, who is now the head of the Italians, and with the help of the Latinos, burned Poet and Pierce severely. Adebisi is Wangler's cellmate now, and he is at his old enemy's mercy. Adebisi ties Wangler to the bed naked on a daily basis to prevent him from defending himself against rape. It is not clear as to whether or not Adebisi did indeed rape Wangler but it was very possible as Adebisi's sexual preference involved forcing sex upon young African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
men much like Wangler. He then forces Wangler to accuse Tim McManus
Tim McManus
Tim McManus is a fictional character on HBO's prison drama Oz, played by Terry Kinney.-Character overview:McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as...
of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
. McManus transfers Wangler to Unit B and Wangler accepts Adebisi's plan to get rid of McManus and have a black man run Em City. Poet and Pierce get out of the hospital wanting to kill Adebisi, but Wangler tells them to cool off for the time being. On New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
, amid the racial tension, Wangler, Poet, and Pierce lead the Black inmates in a chant throughout Unit B to set Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill is a fictional character, played by Harold Perrineau on the American television show Oz, serving as the show's narrator.-Character overview:...
free from solitary.
Season 4
Adebisi gets Wangler, Poet, and Pierce back into Em City against McManus' wishes. While inside, Adebisi is trying to find someone to use a gun in a specific manner so that McManus can be exposed as incompetent and unfit to run Em City. A new inmate, an insecure white man named Guillaume TarrantGuillaume Tarrant
Guillaume Tarrant was a fictional character on the HBO prison series Oz played by Lothaire Bluteau.- Character Overview :Prisoner #00T416. Convicted January 2, 2000 - Destruction of private property, concealment of a deadly weapon. Sentence: 10 years, eligible for parole in 3.Guillaume Tarrant was...
, arrives in Oz and is an immediate target for Wangler, Poet, and Pierce; they steal his shoes and bully him regularly. Seeing this, Adebisi places the gun in his cell, and the next day Tarrant kills Wangler and Pierce, in addition to another black inmate and Correctional Officer Joseph Howard before committing suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Wangler's death, however, falls perfectly into Adebisi's plans of revenge on them for killing Jara, and to get a black Unit Manager hired, as three black prisoners and a black officer died at the hands of a white amidst a shootout.