Main Characters of the Show

Current Characters

• John Munch (Richard Belzer)

  Munch: Munch is a cynic. Nothing seems to please him. Holidays, kids, his job. He has been twice divorced and his last divorce seems to hit him the hardest. However, underneath the cynical exterior, lies a man with more heart than Bolander. Munch cares about the people that he works with, but very rarely does he show it in any normal sense of the word.

• Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor)

  Bayliss: Bayliss is the newcomer. Often bumbling, because he really does not know better. He is interesting because he is caught between the Apollonian and the Dionysian lifestyle. At times he is rational and confident, and at other times he is irrational and emotional. Sometimes it takes nothing more than a spark to set him off and other times, he will be ridden far longer than many of the other detectives will allow themselves to be ridden.

• Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson)

  Lewis: Lewis is sometimes portrayed as the angry black youth that has matured to adulthood, without subduing the anger. At times, he is against his department, and other times his is with his department. He is a very explosive character. Meldrick speaks his mind and is not afraid to do so. He has a hard time getting along with anyone as a result of his outspokenness. Of late, Meldrick can be seen in a more thought provoking mode than the way that he was protrayed in the beginning of the show. The angry black youth is less and less appearant, and the thoughtful compassionate person is being brought to the forefront.

• Lieutenant Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto)

  Giardello: Referred to as "Gee" most of the time. He is the Godfather of the department. One of two shift lieutenants. Befriend him and work with him, and he is the best friend that you will ever have. However, if you piss on him, he will make you lick it up off the floor. He is one of the rare breeds of Black Sicilian, in what is stereotypically an Irish dominated workplace. His methods are unorthodox, and the bureaucracy is often angered with him. The only thing that keeps him on the force as Lieutenant is the fact that his shift has such a high percentage of closed cases.

• Laurie Ballard (Callie Thorne)

  Ballard: Ballard is the hot shot from Seattle. While the other detectives were rotated out, she took over the department and became its star also. We've seen her do little so far, other than be concerned about how to live in Baltimore. It seems that she's overly bothered by cases dealing with women her age. This is a drawback, but her character seems to be handling it well without the Gen-X angst.

• Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety)

  Gharty: Gharty has been around the force for a while. He was a radio car cop, then he worked for Vice, and now he has rotated into Homicide. He's set in his ways, and his world view is not going to change. He sees things as they are and is not afraid to tell you how he sees things. This leads to problems because it appears that he might be racist, sexist, etc, but he's doesn't seem to imply any malice.

• Paul Falsone (Jon Seda)

  Falsone: He's the wonder child. Probably had a gold star for every day of kindergarten, but I digress. Falsone is quick tempered, very quick tempered. He enjoys his work, but like Felton before him, he is obessed with his child, who lives with his ex-wife. Falsone appears happy-go-lucky, take-it-as-it-comes, but we see that he's a real go-getter, very proactive.

• Terri Stivers (Toni Lewis)

  Stivers: Stivers has made the rounds in the police department. She's been in Sex Crimes, Narcotics, and finally Homicide. Like Kay before her, she seems not to be concerned by being one of a handful of females. She works cases dilligently and thouroughly. She's got a lot of contacts from working in other departments that she can rely upon for information.

• Stan Bolander (Ned Beatty)

  Bolander: Bolander is the quintessential detective. Would remind you of Columbo. Big, stumbling, High moral ground. Has the most experience. Kind of like a warm grandfather would be. Quiet and thoughtful. More so after his shooting incident. He is currently retired from the police department.

• Kay Howard (Melissa Leo)

  Howard: Kay was one of the few women in a male dominated workplace. She was the first woman in the homicide department. Whether this bothers her remains to be seen. It does not hinder her, as she was always trying to prove that she is at least as good, if not better than the other men. Normally, she will press the case longer and harder than any of the men in the outfit. Also, she had a "streak" of closed cases on the force. Now that she has earned the rank of Sergeant, it is common fact that she is one of the better detectives in the unit. This has driven a wedge between her and most of the coworkers. Kay's present whereabouts are uncertain. Due to the police rotation, Kay has been rotated out of the Homicide unit. It is rumored that she took the retirement option and is currently off the force.

• Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher)

  Pembleton: Pembleton is a loner, pure and simple. His methods are often unorthodox, and he is portrayed as non-caring about many things. However, he is without a doubt, the best detective in the unit. Pembleton is a raging dichotomy. Black Catholic, with a wife, he has many ties pulling him in different directions. After his stroke, he was not the man he used to be. When his partner (Tim Bayliss) got shot, he quit the force because he knew he was no longer the man he used to be.

• Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond)

  Kellerman: Kellerman was the perfect foil to Meldrick. Cool, calm rational, always quick with a smile. He cares. He is sentimental. Little things matter to him. His memories of being a kid. Kellerman is the type of person who does not like to grow up. He feels more comfortable with the things that gave him joy as a kid. He is the way that most people want to be. Would be, if only it works in the real world. Kellerman has quit the force over his murder of Luther Mahoney. This affects him greatly, as his life was being a Po-lice.

• Meggan Russert (Isabella Hofmann)

  Russert: Russert is often unsure of herself. A woman in a male dominated workplace. She is often used by others, and as a result, is not very well trusted within the department. Her style of leadership is not well liked as compared to Gee's. She will do what the bureaucracy wants done, no matter what the costs. Since her demotion to detective, it seems that Meggan is finding a place in the heart of the detectives. They respect her more now, because as they put it "You think like a detective, not a lieutenant." She is currently living in Paris with her lover. It is uncertain of her future in the Homicide offices.

• Chief Medical Examiner Julianna Cox (Michelle Forbes)

  Cox: CME Julianna Cox was from Baltimore originally, but moved back from Buffalo because she was offered the CME job. Witty, quick and personal, she helped the detectives with many of their cases. She quickly got involved with both Kellerman and Bayliss leading to some rocky emotional swings. She's part boozer, part jezebel, but all balls. She rode off into the sunset with her '67 White Convertible Mustang.

• Videographer JH Brodie (Max Perlich)

  Brodie: Brodie, the videographer. Brodie was always there with a smile, his camera, and a quip. He worked with the department for one year or so and created a documentary about them for his graduate class. The documentary was sold to PBS and won a Peabody award. Brodie jumped ship from the Homicide Department and was last seen heading to California with an achin' in his heart.

Characters that have died

• Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin)

  Felton: Felton is the wiseguy. Always hounding someone. Has a real big ego. He has separated from his wife and kids, at his wife's request, and he tries to act as if it is not a big deal, but on the inside he is torn apart by not being able to see his kids. His attitude grates on the nerves of everyone else. Beau is deceased. He was killed on the job while doing undercover work for Vice.

• Steve Crosetti (Jon Polito)

  Crosetti: Crosetti was down to earth. Bolander is down to earth, but he is more moral than most people. Bolander knows that too. Crosetti was the "working stiff", the salt of the earth, of the group. He entertained no high moral ground, but one of those rare people who is wise without concern. He saw things for what they were and cared not for what they should have been, or seemed to be. He had an insane passion for Abraham Lincoln. He tried not to let the cases get the best of him, but in the end he was too caught up in the extreme senselessness of one of his cases. It drove him to suicide, in what was arguably the single best episode of Homicide.

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