
Clarke Peters
Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series The Wire (2002–2008) and Albert Lambreaux in the television series Treme (2010–2013). He also wrote the book for the musical revue Five Guys Named Moe (1990). Peters is also known for his roles in the films Silver Dream Racer (1980), Endgame (2009), John Wick (2014), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Harriet (2019), and Da 5 Bloods (2020), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Peters was born Peter Clarke, the second of four sons, in New York City, and grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. At the age of 12, he had his first theater experience, in a school production of My Fair Lady. He began to have serious ambitions to work in the theater at the age of 14. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1970. In 1971, Peters' older brother enabled him to work as a costume designer for a production of the musical Hair in Paris, in which Peters later starred. In 1973, Peters moved to London and changed his name to Clarke Peters, because Equity already had a few namesake members. While in London, he formed a soul band, The Majestics, and worked as a backup singer on such hits as "Love and Affection" by Joan Armatrading, "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, and some David Essex songs. However, music was not Peters' main ambition, and he preferred to work in the theater. His first West End theatre musical roles, which he received with assistance from his friend Ned Sherrin, were I Gotta Shoe (1976) and Bubbling Brown Sugar (1977). Other West End credits include Blues in the Night, Porgy and Bess, The Witches of Eastwick, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and Chess. Peters starred in the Sean Connery space Western Outland (1981) as the treacherous Sgt. Ballard, and he played an almost wordless role as Anderson, a vicious pimp in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa (1986). Peters is familiar to television viewers as Detective Lester Freamon in the HBO series The Wire. Peters also starred in the HBO mini-series The Corner, portraying a drug addict named Fat Curt, as well as the FX series Damages, as Dave Pell. Both The Wire and The Corner were created by writer and former The Baltimore Sun journalist David Simon. Peters also stars in Simon's HBO series Treme, in the role of Mardi Gras Indian chief Albert Lambreaux. Peters appeared in two episodes of the American time-travel/detective TV series Life on Mars (2008) as NYPD Captain Fletcher Bellow. He also appeared in the British show Holby City, as Derek Newman, the father of nurse Donna Jackson. He voiced a part in the Doctor Who animated episode Dreamland, and in the In Plain Sight episode "Duplicate Bridge" as a man in Witness Protection named Norman Baker/Norman Danzer. In 2010, Peters read Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption for BBC 7. In that year, he also had a guest appearance as Professor Mark Ramsay in the pilot episode of the USA Network TV series Covert Affairs. From 2012 to 2013, Peters had a recurring role as Alonzo D. Quinn in the CBS TV series Person of Interest.
112 acting credits
Acting · 112

Midsomer Murders
1997

The Boroughs
2026

Person of Interest
2011

Blue Bloods
2010

Death in Paradise
2011

True Detective
2014

Foundation
2021

The Wire
2002

Archer
2009

Oz
1997

Damages
2007

Waking the Dead
2001

The Professionals
1977

American Masters
1986

Marvel's Jessica Jones
2015

His Dark Materials
2019

In Plain Sight
2008

John Wick
2014

Forever
2014

Jonathan Creek
1997

Watson
2025

Law & Order: Trial by Jury
2005

Treme
2010

Life on Mars
2008

Between the Lines
1992

Murder Most Horrid
1991

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2017

Notting Hill
1999

The Man Who Fell to Earth
2022

The Blacklist: Redemption
2017

Royal Crackers
2023

Eric
2024

Chance
2016

Towards Zero
2025

Marley & Me
2008

London Spy
2015

Show Me a Hero
2015

Testament: The Story of Moses
2024

K-PAX
2001

La Fortuna
2021

The Irregulars
2021

Meadowlands
2007

The Big Narstie Show
2018

Small Town, Big Story
2025

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
2022

Bulletproof
2018

Harriet
2019

Travelling Man
1984

Outland
1981

The Corner
2000

The Divide
2014

Truelove
2024

The Best of Me
2014

Chandler & Co
1994

Partners in Crime
2015

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin
2024

Jericho
2016

Doctor Who: Dreamland
2009

Da 5 Bloods
2020

Come Away
2020

Freedomland
2006

Mona Lisa
1986

Head of State
2003

The Poker House
2008

Nativity!
2009

The Benefactor
2015

The Mandela Effect
2019

Grace
2014

Gigantic
2008

Endgame
2009

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
2009

Love Is___
2018

Christmas Under the Stars
2019

Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
1998

Death Train
1993

Red Hook Summer
2012

Legacy
2010

Letters Live from the Archive: Freemasons’ Hall
2021

Sean Connery: In His Own Words
2015
Sexual Healing
—

An Acceptable Loss
2019

Tapping the Wire
2007

Locked In
2010

The Wire Odyssey
2007

The Bad Education Movie
2015
Bumps
2020

Up Line
1987

Red King, White Knight
1989

The Music Machine
1979

Silver Dream Racer
1980

A Masculine Ending
1992

Cameron Mackintosh - The First 50 Years
2021

Saigon: Year of the Cat
1983

The Wire: The Last Word
2007

Division 19
2017

James Brown: Soul Survivor
2003

The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We Dance
1992

A Casualty of War
1989
Sympathetic Details
2008

Chess in Concert
2009

Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes
2020

Searching for Sonny
2011

The Opera Game
2019

King
1984
The Royale
2021

BBC Proms - The Golden Age of Broadway
2022

Facelift
1984
Turnipseed
2009

Number on End
1980

Fats Domino and The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll
2016

Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones
2015

Rebirth in New Orleans
2016