The Cast

Many wonderful actors have passed thru the squadroom doors over the years

Yaphet Kotto as Al Giardello - Gee was more than just a mere Lt. of the squad, he was the father figure, praising, prodding, mentoring, protecting at times and even handing out the discipline when needed. He was also the glue that held the entire unit together. He is widowed with three estranged children, a lonely man indeed. 

Kotto was born and raised in New York City and he began studying acting at 16. He has starred in many, many movies throughout the years, too many to list in their entirety here, including, "Midnight Run", "Alien" and "The Thomas Crown Affair" He has also written an autobiography, "The Royalty", a fascinating book about  about his family's history. He has an internet site that details news from around the globe at www.3rdworldnews.com 

Isabella Hoffman played Capt. Megan Russert during seasons 3 thru 4 and returned for two episodes in season 5. Her character was a former Navy intelligence officer that joins the police dept and struggles with the balancing act of being in command and being a single mother. In the course of the series she was a Lt., a Capt. and detective. She was paired romantically with Beau Felton for a short time before she left the unit to marry and move to Paris, France.

She is from Chicago and holds a B.A. in Theatre/Music from Columbia College in Chicago. Isabella starred in the NBC series, "Dear John" for four years and has been involved with numerous television and movie productions, including "Renaissance Man" and "Real Men"

Daniel Baldwin played Detective Beau Felton as a loyal, blustering South Balto billy-boy for 4 seasons. He was paired with Kay Howard and plagued with a strained relationship with his wife, creating havoc with his work on the squad. Beau made a brief appearance towards the end of season 6 as the victim of a murder that the squad has been called in to investigate.

Baldwin's feature film credits include "Born On The Fourth Of July" and "Car 54, Where Are You?" And yes, he is one of the famous "Baldwin Brothers". In March 2000 he will be a judge at the Miss USA beauty pagent.

Detective John Munch is played by the veteran comedian Richard Belzer. Munch is the lone hippie-holdout from the 60's in the unit. Distrustful of authority even if he is a part of the scheme of things and full of thought provoking opinions, sometimes his flip persona doesn't mask the fact that this man is actually a softie inside. Munch has been married 4 times.

Richard Belzer has had many film roles thru the years, starting with his debut in the cult classic, "Groove Tube" and continuing into the 90's with roles in both of Spike Lee's films, "Get On The Bus" and "Girl 6". He has appeared on the Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live many times as well as having a successful radio show, "Brink and Belzer" He has written several books including "How to Be a Stand-Up Comic" and "UFOS, JFK and Elvis" He is married to Harlee McBride who plays Dr. Alyssa Dyer on Homicide. Post "Homicide" he can be currently seen every Friday night on NBC in the old HLOTS time slot of 10 p.m. in the "Law and Order" spin off "SVU" as Det. John Munch of the NYPD.

Stanley "Big Man" Bolander was the sage elder of the squad room, the only one with enough time under his belt to be able to storm Gee's office and insist that Gee talk when he was upset, he was the only one that could dare coax Gee out of his funks. Stan is divorced and not particularly successful with the ladies. He and his partner, John Munch frequently argue and he seems to be threatening to gut Munch every couple of minutes.

Ned Beatty portrayed Bolander for 3 seasons and reprised that role in the Homicide movie. He has been a successfully working actor for many years and has a fine singing voice.

Kay Howard is the Sargent of the Squad and you get the feeling that she considers any show of femininity on the job as unprofessional. She rotated out of Homicide to the Fugitive Squad at the end of season 5. Howard was a great cop with a 100% clearance rate and an interesting character in a medium filled with bimbos, a more true portrayal of a real female cop than had ever been seen before.

Melissa Leo's brave turn as Kay Howard was excellent. She is a native of New York City and studied acting at the State University of New York in Purchase. Her studies led to roles on "All My Children", other television productions, theatre and in independent films.

Detective Tim Bayliss started as the unit's rookie, the innocent tossed in with the jaded. His character came full circle over the course of the seven seasons and the Homicide movie. One thing you could say about Tim Bayliss is that he was never boring. Teamed with Frank Pembleton, it was awesome watching the two of them in the box , working together. Bayliss possessed a strange combination of kindness and suddenly erupting temper and he remained haunted till the end by his failure to close his first murder case, the Adena Watson case.

Kyle Secor played Tim Bayliss for the entire run of the series. He has gone on to make several independent films after Homicide and this fall returned to television as Dr. Raleigh Stewart on CBS's short-lived, "City of Angels" Secor is a native of Federal Way, Washington and has had roles in many feature films and episodic television. Two of his films, "Beat" and "Endsville" are post-production and awaiting a release date. On March 18th Kyle can be seen in the ABC Television/Touchstone Pictures movie, "Bailey's Mistake" on ABC. 

Editors Note - During the year 2000 I was fortunate enough to see both "Beat" and "Endsville" at film festivals and both were outstanding films. Both films have websites for more information www.beatmovie.com and www.endsville.com . Kyle was very Anti-Bayliss in "Endsville" as a cult leader but Judd Nelson came darn close in stealing the film from him. Both of his performances were stellar and quite different. See them if you get the chance.

Frank Pembleton was the unit hardass. Utterly humorless and self-righteous, the box was Frank's center stage until a stroke stripped Pembleton of many of the very things that make Frank essentially Frank. Watching Frank wrestling with his faith in God also made for an intriguing viewing experience and the show suffered greatly after he quit the squad after Tim Bayliss was gunned down at the end of season 6.

Portraying the complex and facinating character of Pembleton was the talented actor, Andre Braugher. Many feel that Braugher should have received more accolades for his amazing performances as Pembleton but sadly he never received the accolades he deserved. Braugher studied acting at Julliard and has appeared in everything from Shakespeare to feature films. He starred in the film, "Duets" and is currently in the ABC television show, "Gideons Crossing"as Dr. Ben Gideon.

Detective Meldrick Lewis joined the Baltimore Police Dept. after a childhood spent in the projects of Baltimore. All throughout Homicide, Lewis had many get-rich-quick schemes like flooding Memorial Stadium and buying the Waterfront Bar with Bayliss and Munch. He had a big heart but not always the most common sense and we had the pleasure of watching him do such things as marry Barbara Shivers on the spur of the moment and fall head over heels for Emma Zoole instantly only to have his heart broken. One thing you could say about Lewis is that he seemed quite real, with the same strengths and failings we all have, that make us all human.

Clark Johnson made Lewis come to life. He already had a full career before he ever joined the cast of Homicide, including playing professional football, working as a actor, a special effects technician, camera assistant, writer and director. He was recently seen in a made for television movie on the FX network, "Deliberate Intent" and is currently directing a film for HBO, "Boycott" which will be shown on February 24th at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Detective Steve Crosetti was only on Homicide for the first two seasons and he was sorely missed. Partnered with Meldrick Lewis, the two seemed to be the closest set of partners in the unit. From the first episode, "Gone For Goode" through "Crosetti" and even later you could see the deep influence of Steve on all the characters. The suicide of Steve Crosetti left a hole in the unit that was never really filled, but the episode, "Crosetti" was one of the show's finer moments.

For the two seasons that we viewed Detective Steve Crosetti he was portrayed by Jon Polito. Jon was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Villanova University. He recieved an OBIE  Award for best actor and has starred on stage, screen and television in a wide variety of roles including the Coen Brothers "Barton Fink" and the recent childrens movie "Stuart Little". He guest-starred in Andre Braughers new television program, "Gideon's Crossing" in October 2000 as well.

Detective Michael Kellerman joined the Homicide unit from Arson at the beginning of season 4. Mike had a sort of boyish exuberance at the beginning of his run, claiming that Fun was his God. But after accusations of bribery, numerous run-ins with Luther Mahoney and his subsequent fatal shooting of Luther, Mike had hardened into a different man. His confession and resignation from the unit during "Fallen Heroes Part 2" was heartbreaking.

Born and raised in New York City, Reed Diamond always had a passion for acting. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before studying acting at Julliard. Diamond has amassed an impressive list of credits in film, television and theater, including the feature films "Memphis Belle", "Assassins" and "Clear and Present Danger". He was most recently seen in the TBS production of "High Noon" Shooting just started on the film, "Three Days", a Christmas movie starring Reed and Kristin Davis. It is slated to be shown on Fox Family Channel during the holidays 2001.

Dr. Julianna Cox roared into Charm City in her vintage Mustang convertible, weaving in and out of traffic. Hard drinking and straight shooting as the new Chief Medical Examiner, Julianna shook things up immediately. But she seemed to be plagued with a series of bad luck from the beginning, first losing her father before plunging into an ill-advised, liquor soaked affair with Mike Kellerman. Dr. Cox left Baltimore after refusing to lie on an autopsy report.

Michelle Forbes from Austin, Texas brought Dr. Cox to life. She has appeared on stage in off-Broadway productions, on the soap-opera "Guiding Light", as a guest star in many prime-time series and played opposite Brad Pitt in the motion picture, "Kalifornia" before joining the cast of Homicide. Post-Homicide she has appeared in a short-lifed series, "Wonderland"

Detective Stuart Gharty first appeared on Homicide as a patrolman that took his sweet time answering a call in the projects on the episode, "Scene of the Crime" He was paired with Laura Ballard when he joined the unit and as time went on his personal life unraveled, he divorced his wife, took up heavy drinking and clashed with John Munch over Billie Lou's affections. In the movie, "Homicide: The Movie" he had taken over Giardello's old job as the squad's Lt. He turned out to be not as bad a detective as it was first supposed he would be.

Peter Gerety played Stu as a man with many different facets, someone you could like and dislike at the same time. Primarily a stage actor, Gerety has also had roles in television series as well as in motion pictures such as "Mrs. Winterbourne" In addition he has directed numerous plays. He was spotted as a guest star in the television show, "Ed" recently as well.

Terri Stivers first appeared as a Detective from the Narcotics Squad during the episode, "Bad Medicine" She and Meldrick Lewis worked together during this very first appearance of Luther Mahoney, villain extraordinaire.  Lewis and Stivers had a strong chemistry together that quickly died as they took part in the cover-up on the Mahoney shooting. Too bad that the powers that be never used this character to her full potential.

Toni Lewis aptly portrayed Detective Stivers on the show.  She is a Chicago native and has appeared in many theatrical productions, done voice-overs and singing. Homicide was her television debut.

Detective Laura Ballard came to the Baltimore Homicide Unit via Seattle. We first see her partnered with Stu Gharty during the 3 part episode "Blood Ties". During the investigation of this case she locks horns with Pembleton. Later in the series TPTB featured a romance between Ballard and Falsone.

Massachusetts native Callie Thorne portrayed Laura Ballard for the final two seasons of the show.  Thorne was an unknown actress with a few stage credits and independent films before Tom Fontana brought her aboard Homicide. She made a guest appearance on the television show, "Ed" recently.

Paul Falsone joined the squad at the end of Season 5 during the investigation of the murder of Beau Felton. He managed to immediately cheese off pretty much everyone in the squad during that case so it was a big surprise when Falsone ended up joining the Homicide squad as a full-fledged detective for season 6. Not the sharpest crayon in the box Paul did have his moments. But for the most part he was badly overused in an unbelievable manner on the show.

Actor Jon Seda brought Falsone to life as the guy we loved to hate in the squadroom. Jon is from New Jersey and was the Golden Gloves champ for that state. He has been seen in feature films and in guest roles on television shows and in beer commercials. His most recent film was "The Price of Glory" He had a recurring role post-Homicide in the NBC Drama, "Third Watch"

Season 7 saw the addition of Detective Renee Sheppard, a former Miss Anne Arundel County Beauty Queen. Partnered with Meldrick Lewis and lusted after by every single man on the squad before the season was over she would be beaten by a suspect and have her weapon taken from her. The resulting rift between Meldrick and Renee played out during the remainder of the final season. 

Michael Michelle was a big fan of Homicide long before she joined the cast for the final season. She has appeared in many films and is currently starring on E.R.

The final season also saw the addition of Al Giardello's son, Michael to the cast as the FBI Liaison for the unit. Mike and his father never got along and he seemed to have even more baggage and troubles just beneath the surface than even Bayliss, a troubled guy. He ended up quitting the FBI to become a Baltimore City patrolman in the movie, "Homicide: Life Everlasting:

Giancarlo Esposito portrayed Mike Giardello