REST IN PEACE Actor Michael K. Williams Omar in the movie “The Wire”

GoodNight Sir Michael K. Williams

RIP

Actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his work on The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on Monday, Vulture can confirm. According to the police, Williams was discovered by a family member. The death is being investigated, according to authorities, and the cause of death has not yet been released. “It is with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams. They ask for your privacy while grieving this insurmountable loss,” Williams’s family said in a statement. He was 54.

Williams’s portrayal of The Wire’s enigmatic Omar Little earned him widespread critical acclaim, and beginning in 2010, he starred as Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire. More recently, his roles in Lovecraft Country, When They See Us, The Night Of, and the HBO biopic Bessie garnered him Emmy nominations. Williams was also active in community outreach in his native New York City, founding a nonprofit called Making Kids Win to combat gun violence and youth incarceration. In 2018, he released an HBO documentary on juvenile incarceration titled Raised in the System. “I believe we have enough resources within our community that we should be able to go back into our cities and take back our kids, the ones that are perpetrating and the ones that are being perpetrated upon — they’re all ours,” Williams told Vulture in 2018.