Actor Michael K. Williams discovered lifeless in NYC apartment
5 min read
Michael K. Williams — who portrayed notorious stickup gentleman Omar Tiny on “The Wire” — was discovered lifeless of a suspected heroin overdose in his Brooklyn penthouse Monday afternoon, legislation enforcement resources instructed The Post.
Williams, 54, was found out facial area-down and unresponsive in the eating home of his luxury Williamsburg pad with what appeared to be heroin on the kitchen desk, sources mentioned.
A relative of the Emmy-winning actor talked to him Friday, and Williams was intended to demonstrate up to an party Saturday but never ever created it, sources reported.
The relative went to Williams’ residence Monday, and somebody referred to as cops to the tackle at 440 Kent Ave. just prior to 2 p.m., saying there was a guy there who was “unresponsive’’ and “feels chilly,’’ resources claimed.




Williams — who experienced talked brazenly about his earlier struggles with medications — was pronounced dead by authorities at 2:12 p.m., resources stated, adding that it appeared the Television star experienced fatally OD’d. It was unclear how extensive the actor may have been dead.
“No foul participate in indicated,’’ a law enforcement source claimed. “No compelled entry, the condominium was in buy.’’



A gentleman sat sobbing by itself at a table outside Williams’ constructing conversing into his cellphone Monday afternoon.
“I located the physique,’’ the inconsolable gentleman claimed into his telephone, shaking, with tears streaming down his encounter.
Williams’ longtime rep confirmed the actor’s dying in a statement.


“It is with deep sorrow that the family members announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams,’’ spokeswoman Marianna Shafran explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “They check with for your privacy whilst grieving this unsurmountable loss.’’
Cops are investigating in which the drugs located in Williams’ dwelling arrived from, resources explained.
The town Medical Examiner’s Office was at Williams’ making Monday afternoon, and eight NYPD cops, including at minimum two supervisors, had been outside the house. Later in the afternoon, family and pals could be found hugging each individual other, as law enforcement removed bags of proof.

The East Flatbush native was also identified for taking part in Chalky White, a bootlegger in the Prohibition-era HBO collection “Boardwalk Empire.”
In “The Wire,” his overtly gay character toted a sawed-off shotgun though going for walks the indicate streets of Baltimore robbing drug dealers and whistling the tune to Elmer Fudd’s “A-Looking We Will Go.’’
Williams experienced stated he brought his private experiences, together with his have struggles, to his roles to attempt to give the figures extra nuance.
“I use my occupation to engage empathy and compassion for folks culture might stereotype or ostracize,” he informed the Guardian in 2015.
“No a single wakes up and says, ‘I’m going to come to be a drug dealer’ or ‘I’m likely to develop into a stickup kid.’ No. There is a collection of functions that makes them experience this is the only way out. As a black guy escalating up in the ’hood, I bear witness to some of people activities.”

He even had the scar to establish it — the remnant of a horrific slashing from a struggle outside a bar in Queens when he was 25.
Williams credited the facial scar with landing him his first huge acting breaks, which revolved about “thug roles.’’
The actor experienced been vocal about his possess struggles with medicine through the a long time, as well, which include all through the filming of “The Wire,’’ indicating that finding so into the position of Small, who robs drug dealers, impacted him in authentic life.
The actor explained to NPR in 2016 that he at the time stumbled into a church in New Jersey, desperately seeking enable for his dependancy.
“When I came by those people doorways, I was broken. … This was, I would say, about the … third year of ‘The Wire,’” Williams said.
“I was on prescription drugs. … I was in jeopardy of destroying all the things I had labored so hard for, and I arrived in people doorways, and I met a gentleman who experienced never even heard of ‘The Wire,’ a great deal a lot less viewed it,’’ he mentioned, referring to the pastor.
“I wrote my entire name down — Michael Kenneth Williams — and in the business office, [the pastor] turns all-around, and he suggests, ‘So what do you want to be called, man?’ I claimed, ‘Well, you know, my title is Michael, but I could do Mike.’ He says, ‘Why does every person say, “Omar, Omar’s in trouble”?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, this dude is clueless [about the show],’” Williams claimed.
The actor begun out as a back-up dancer for Madonna and George Michael just before remaining encouraged by rapper Tupac Shakur to go into undertaking.
He used his eventual fame to promote social justice, turning out to be an “ambassador for ending mass incarceration’’ for the American Civil Liberties Union in 2015.
“I could have been Eric Garner. I could have been Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin,’’ Williams told the Guardian, referring to 3 dead black adult males whose regulation enforcement-similar fatalities helped gas the Black Lives Subject motion.
“My target is to close mass incarceration and to have a lot more dialogue about how can we end the govt filling up jails with lower-degree, non-violent drug offenders and persons with psychological diseases or addictions,” Williams explained. “Those are overall health challenges, not legal.”