Jay Landsman Biography
Jay Landsman is an American retired homicide detective and actor. He is famously known as Jay Landsman on the television series The Wire. Although the Landsman character is not played by Landsman himself, but by Delaney Williams.
He was featured in David Simon’s 1991 book about the Baltimore homicide unit Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The book was later developed into the television series Homicide: Life on the Street. He was the inspiration for the fictional character John Munch.
Landsman portrayed himself in a brief appearance on the HBO miniseries The Corner and, later, appeared in The Wire, playing the character of Lieutenant Dennis Mello. He also appeared in season five of the food and travel show No Reservations.
In 2004, he and his son Jay C. Landsman Jr. were simultaneously promoted from corporal to sergeant in the Baltimore County Police department. By 2015, Landsman Jr. was a captain. Towards the end of December 2015, he was promoted to lieutenant in the Department.
By March 2016, all four of Landsman’s children were serving with him in the Baltimore County Police Department. Joining them was one of his granddaughter.
Jay Landsman Age
Jay Landsman was born in Baltimore, MD, United States of America. His actual age is unknown. We will update you immediately we get the actual information about his date of birth.
Jay Landsman Net Worth
The police lieutenant, Jay Landsman, has not been so open about his life. He has been very secretive about the much he earns. He has completely kept us in the dark. His net worth is currently under review. We will update you immediately we get any factual information about his fortune.
Jay Landsman Wife
Not everybody is so open about his personal life. Jay Landsman is one of those people who are not free disclosing information about his wife, family and personal life. Perhaps it is due to his demanding career. As a police he needs to maintain a level of secrecy. This is important for sustaining his career.
We however assume, that the Lieutenant is a married man and has a family. Details about his wife are not known. Moreover, we are just speculating. We will keep following up until we know his actual wife. We will update you immediately we get any information about his dating, married or love life.
As of now we do not even have details about his past dating history.
Jay Landsman Movies | Jay Landsman Rank | Jay Landsman The Wire Rank
- 2003-2008 The Wire (TV Series) Lt. Dennis Mello / Maj. Dennis Mello
- 2009 Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (TV Series)
- 2000 The Corner (TV Mini-Series)
Jay Landsman Quotes
Jay does not have so many quotes to his name. But we managed to get one for you. Here it is;
- From everything we’ve given you, fire should be shootin’ outta your ass. But there you sit, like a genital wart.
Jay Landsman Interview
Q: How did you get cast on the show?
Jay Landsman: I go back a lot of years with David Simon. He wrote a book called Homicide and I was one of the characters. It was about our squad when I was with the Baltimore City homicide unit. Then I was also involved with the incidents that inspired The Wire. One of the characters on the show is named Jay Landsman. When I read for the part they called me and said, You did a fine job, but you’re no Jay Landsman. Then the following year I played Lt Dennis Mello. I’ve been a cop 34 years, so I guess I might have had some experience acting like a cop.
Q: Is it strange to have a character named and partially based off of you?
Jay Landsman: Actually it’s flattering because Delaney Williams is such a good guy and he does a good job. Richard Belzer was supposed to be based on me on Homicide. Richard Belzer is funny as hell, but I don’t have that type of intellectual humor that he does. He was coming off with some real deep cracks, and I never gave that much thought to the shit that I said.
Q: You’re still a police officer?
Jay Landsman: I retired from the city and I started over again in Baltimore County after I did close to 23 years in the city. I started in patrol [in Baltimore County], then I ended up back in homicide for another five years, I got promoted and went to narcotics for a couple of years and then I got promoted again and I got sent to the crime lab for a few years, I was the assistant to the director and then in the last few years I figured I wanted to go back to the street. I took over a small plainclothes squad, it’s sort of a Barney Miller squad in Baltimore County and I feel at home again. It’s great.
Q: Do you feel like The Wire gives an accurate portrayal of Baltimore?
Jay Landsman: David did a lot of research in both areas [the police force and the streets], probably more in-depth than most would go. He pretty much lived the life on both sides in Baltimore. It’s very realistic. You’re not going to highlight the good people in Baltimore, but there are a lot of good people in Baltimore city. But as far as the drug world—the ruthlessness, the personalities of the drug organizations—I think he’s right on the money. I think he’s worked hard to capture that and takes pride in the accuracy. I’ve never seen anything like that, other than The Corner.
SOURCE: http://www.thefader.com