William "The Bunk" Moreland | |
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First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
Last appearance | "–30–" (episode 5.10) |
Created by | David Simon |
Portrayed by | Wendell Pierce |
Information | |
Aliases | Bunk |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Detective in the homicide unit of the Baltimore Police department |
Title | Detective |
Spouse(s) | Nadine |
Children | Three, two sons, one daughter |
William "The Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character in The Wire, played by Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Oscar Requer and nicknamed "The Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who eventually moved into the Homicide Division. Like his best friend Jimmy McNulty, Bunk is shown to be a thoroughly competent and generally moral detective, with similar problems related to infidelity and alcohol abuse (although not to McNulty's levels). He is however more mindful than McNulty of the department's chain of command.
Bunk attended Edmondson High School in West Baltimore, where he played lacrosse. He lives in Randallstown, MD, a predominantly African American suburb of Baltimore, with wife Nadine and three children. Bunk worked as a patrolman in Baltimore's Southwestern District before becoming a homicide detective.
Bunk serves as Jimmy McNulty's lone ally in the homicide unit, informing him of its happenings while chiding him for getting involved in the Barksdale case. He is also the primary investigator for the murder of William Gant, who testified against D'Angelo Barksdale. Omar Little informs Bunk that the shooter is a Barksdale soldier called Bird, and agrees to testify against him in court. Because of this, Bunk persuades his colleague Ray Cole not to arrest Omar for the murder of Stinkum. When Omar is at the police station, Bunk discovers they went to the same high school, beginning an ongoing association between the two.