Jimmy McNulty

Jimmy McNulty
First appearance	"The Target" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"–30–" (episode 5.10)
Created by	David Simon
Portrayed by	Dominic West
Information
Aliases	Jimmy, McNutty, Bushy Top
Gender	Male
Occupation	Major Crimes Unit Detective (Seasons 1-3 and 5), Baltimore City Homicide Detective (Seasons 1 and 5), Baltimore Marine Unit (Season 2), Western District Patrolman (Season 4)
Title	Detective
Spouse(s)	Elena McNulty (divorced) Beadie Russell (partner)
Children	Sean McNulty, Michael McNulty

James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Dominic West.

McNulty is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department of Irish heritage. While he has proven himself to be a talented and determined detective, he is disliked by many of his superiors, and occasionally his colleagues, because of his over-estimated and outwardly arrogant sense of self-worth and ability, his disdain for authority, and his unwavering disrespect for—and insubordination to—the chain of command.

When off the job, he has frequent problems involving alimony, alcoholism, child support, and unstable relationships. McNulty is nonetheless a clever, resourceful police officer, and though not above manipulation and deceit, he is generally moral. He is central to many of the successful high-end drug investigations that take place within the series.

McNulty grew up in the Lauraville neighborhood of Baltimore. His father was an employee for Bethlehem Steel before being laid off in 1973. After a year of attending Loyola College in Maryland, McNulty joined the Baltimore Police Department when his girlfriend Elena (whom he later married) became pregnant, with his EOD (Entrance on Duty) being on April 5, 1994. In his first few years on the job, he proved himself to be an effective patrolman in the Western District under the command of Major Colvin. After assisting Ray Cole in solving a homicide (Cole had arrested the wrong man), he was promoted to detective and assigned to the homicide unit, where he was partnered with Bunk Moreland.

Before the start of the series, McNulty, also known as "McNoodle," has noticed that drug kingpin Avon Barksdale is expanding his organization's territory, and his gang has successfully beaten several murder prosecutions. McNulty is responsible for the formation of the Barksdale detail following the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale, who is found not guilty after a witness changes her story in court. In the Judge's chambers, McNulty is frank about his observations and the lack of investigation so far, prompting Judge Phelan to call Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell. McNulty's commander, Bill Rawls, is furious with him for going around the chain of command. McNulty tells Bunk that he hopes this investigation will lead to a case that means something to him. Sergeant Jay Landsman asks McNulty what unit he would least like to be assigned to, and McNulty says that he finds the diesel fumes in the Marine Unit intolerable.

...
Wikipedia