[unclebucknasty]

A lot of the show was inspired by real events and real people, including the experiences and true character of some of the actors.

One of the most interesting to me was Melvin Williams who played The Deacon, and in real life was a big-time heroin kingpin who was renowned for his intelligence. There's a decent documentary about him floating around and a (short) Wikipedia page [0].

Another is Felicia Pearson who played Snoop. Listen to an interview with her and hear her backstory, and you know she's the real deal. Stephen King called her character "perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series". [1]

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Williams_(actor)

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_(The_Wire)