Oz/Characters

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< Oz
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Main Cast

Tobias Beecher

 Played By: Lee Tergesen

 Reporter: So, how would you describe your time in prison?

Tobias Beecher: You ever read the story of Job?

A Harvard-educated lawyer who fell to alcoholism, killing a young girl while driving drunk. Spends the first season of the show being repeatedly raped by his cellmate, which he suffers without complaint due to his belief that he deserves to be tortured this way as punishment for his crimes. However, he ultimately stands up for himself and ends up spending the rest of the series fighting to survive.

Ryan O'Reily

 Played By: Dean Winters

 "I'm like the lord of the fucking dance. I got moves."

An Irish-American career criminal who serves as an Iago-figure, pitting the various gangs and cliques within Oz against each other for the purposes of surviving. The embodiment of the Magnificent Bastard, ANYONE is expendable in the eyes of O'Reily; even his brain damaged brother Cyril, who ends up in jail after killing a man for Ryan, and later sentenced to death for killing another.

Augustus Hill

 Played By: Harold Perrineau

 "People are defined by three things. Their heads- how they think. Their hearts- what they feel. Their dicks- who they fuck. At the end of the day, each of us has to answer one question. One, not so simple question. Who am I?"

A prisoner who uses a wheelchair who also serves as the show's surrealistic narrator, breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience about the themes of each episode (often serving as a vehicle for beliefs of the show's creator). He also introduces every prisoner, and informs us of their crime and sentence. Note that Hill the narrator is a separate entity from Hill the in-show character, as they apparently aren't the "same" person; as the last season implies that narrator-Hill is * Hill's ghost, narrating the show from the afterlife after dying. In the final season, other deceased characters, including Dino Ortolani, Antonio Nappa and Jefferson Keane take turns narrating episodes as well.

Kareem Saïd

 Played By: Eamonn Walker

 "You wanna save this place, right? And I want to destroy it. Brick by hypocritical brick."

The leader of the Black Muslims. Said starts out as a rabble-rouser, whose disdain for the poor treatment of blacks within society puts him at odds with the staff of the prison, but after triggering a riot that leads to many deaths within the prison, Said finds himself having to reconcile his beliefs with his faith and consequences of his shit-stirring.

Vernon "Vern" Schillinger

 Played By: JK Simmons

 "My turn now. Sieg Heil, baby! SIEG FUCKING HEIL!"

The sexually sadistic leader of the Aryans, whose incredibly heated vendetta against his former rape victim Tobias Beecher drives a lot of the conflict during the show's run.

  • And There Was Much Rejoicing: His death during the play is met with deafening applause.
  • Bald of Evil
  • Being Evil Sucks
  • Berserk Button: Don't pronounce his name incorrectly.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In the first episode only, when we're introduced to him in the same way as Beecher.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played straight at times, yet subverted at others. He does love his sons and mourns their deaths, but he's responsible for Andrew's death. Played a little straighter with his son Hank's girlfriend and her daughter/his granddaughter.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Played straight with his disgust at a paedophile priest and protecting Augustus from Malcolm Coyle, and then averted horribly when he has Beecher's son killed.
    • One could call that first example a subversion considering the priest in question is portrayed as a slave to his urges, with heavy regret who ends up likely dead from crucifixion at the hands of Schillinger's gang for their disgust.
  • Evil Is Petty: Though he prefers to inflict rape, drug abuse, and physical abuse on his enemies, Vern occasionally settles for petty slights such as messing up someones lunch tray and only giving Beecher the envelope of the letter from his grandmother under the pretense that it had to be confiscated.
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • For the Evulz: A lot of his more horrible actions really don't have any point to them besides the fact that he enjoys the suffering of others.
  • Freudian Excuse: His father is just an older, more bitter version of himself.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Stabbed with the same knife he had planned to stab Beecher with.
  • It's All About Me
  • Knight Templar
  • Morality Pet: His son, Andrew. Coming into Oz, Andrew was a drug addict (a big trait his father hated). With Beecher's guidance, he ended up getting himself clean, leading to a blistering Reason You Suck Speech to his father about his upbringing. With Andrew in the hole, Vern sends a bag of heroin, leading to a relapse and an overdose.
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Well, he is a Nazi.
  • Quip to Black: When something bad happens to an inmate at his hand, the very next scene will be him shooting pool in his cell, complete with snarky one-liner about the situation.
  • Threw My Bike on the Roof: His Jerkassery is made even worse by the fact that there is absolutely no benefit from it.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When he realizes Keller played him for a fool.

Simon Adebisi

 Played By: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

 "I have everything. Everything I need. Every love satisfied. But it's not enough."

A low-level gangster who through his friendship with Ryan O'Reily (and several deaths) takes over the main black gang within Oz. Originally amoral, Adebisi slides into total villainy after his attempts to reform are squashed by his underlings and he is framed for the murder of an elderly inmate he befriended. Soon enough he begins a massive Plan to become the undisputed kingpin of the entire prison and pretty much succeeding until Said exposes his scheme and has to kill him.

Miguel Alvarez

 Played By: Kirk Acevedo

 "I'm so tired. I'm tired of trying. I'm tired of the walls. The lies. The fear. The death. I'm so tired."

The main Latino prisoner of the show. A loser whose father and grandfather are both imprisoned in Oz, Alvarez spends most of the series being driven to madness by the prison staff via being put into solitary confinement (though he pretty much deserves it, seeing as he gouged out the eyes of a prison guard in a desperate bid to avoid being expelled from the main Latino prison gang, due to his light skin and semi-Caucasian looks.

Tim McManus

 Played By: Terry Kinney

 "I may be blind but I'm not dumb."

The idealistic creator and manager of Em City, who strives for a perfect rehabilitation system without conflict or violence, despite the concerns of others who feel that that may be an impossible dream.

Leo Glynn

 Played By: Ernie Hudson

 Glynn: Look, we're doing everything we can to keep the number of reported rapes down.

Sister Pete: Reported? Listen to you, your own daughter was raped!

Glynn: Well... this is different. This is Oz.

The warden of the prison. Though presented as the fair and honest caretaker of the prison, over the course of the series Glynn goes slowly mad with power as his political ambitions, family crisises (most notably his daughter's rape), and various other conflicts pop up in his job as warden.

Sister Peter Marie Reimondo

 Played By: Rita Moreno

 "Don't think of me as a psychologist. Don't think of me as a nun. Think of me as your mother."

The prison psychologist and nun who runs the prison's drug rehabilitation program. Though a truly good person, she suffers from various crises of faith over the course of the show, over issues such as the death penalty and her personal life (mainly the unresolved mystery of the murder of her husband and, after several tense sessions with Chris Keller, her vows as a nun after Keller tries to seduce her).

The Aryans/Bikers

Scott Ross

 Played By: Stephen Gevedon

 "I'm gonna give you ten minutes to get your hands off my dick."

A drug dealer, old friend of Schillinger and leader of the Bikers. He has a past connection to Wittlesy, and is disliked heavily by almost everyone.

Jaz Hoyt

 Played By: Evan Seinfield

One of the more prominent biker characters, he is often allied with the Aryans.

James Robson

 Played By: RE Rodgers

 "It's funny, here I am, 36 years old I got nowhere to run. You know, and I--I guess what...what I want to know is, is it okay to do whatever is necessary... to survive?"

One of the Aryan leaders and Schillinger's closest friend.

Wolfgang Cutler

 Played By: Brendan Kelly

 "You and me? We're gonna spoon."

An Aryan-Biker with a sadistic sexual appetite.

Andrew Schillinger

 Played By: Fred Koehler

 "I gotta tell you something Dad, my whole life you’ve crammed into my head how superior we white folks are. I don’t see the truth in that."

Schillinger's youngest son and drug addict.

The Homeboys

Jefferson Keane

 Played By: Leon

The original leader of the Homeboys. A deeply troubled man, he converts to Islam after meeting Kareem Said.

Kenny Wangler

 Played By: JD Williams

A 16-year-old inmate who quickly becomes a member of the Homeboys.

Johnny Post

 Played By: Tim McAdams

Malcolm Coyle

 Played By: Treach

  • Bald of Evil
  • For the Evulz: Why he committed the murders.
  • Hidden Depths: Originally sent to Oz on armed robbery charges, but Hill finds out about Coyle murdering an entire family.. for fun, including an EIGHTEEN MONTH OLD INFANT.
  • Truth in Television: Child killers do NOT last very long in maximum security prisons. He's no exception.

Arnold "Poet" Jackson

 Played By: muMs the Scehemer

 "It's kinda fucked up, leaving. Everybody else is staying. It's like waking up from a dream."

A high-ranked Homeboy who writes and performs poetry.

Omar White

 Played By: Michael Wright

"I ain't no drug abuser. Truth is, I treat my drugs better than most."

Burr Redding

 Played By: Michael Wright

"I take a shit in this world, I see reality and I make the best of it."

A half-crazed Vietnam vet who ran the streets where Augustus Hill grew up in, and acted as a foster father to the boy. He eventually controls the Homeboys post-Adebisi. A lot of what befalls Augustus is Burr's fault.

The Italians

Dino Ortolani

 Played By: Jon Seda

A hot-tempered and self-destructive Italian who becomes Beecher's sponsor.

Nino Schibetta
Played By: Tony Musante
—"What the fuck's wrong with this country? In the old days, murder was murder. You killed someone, it was business."

A mob boss and initial leader of the Italians.

Peter Schibetta

 Played By: Eddie Malavarca

 "You tell 'em I'm gonna handle Adebisi. I'm gonna get my honor back by the end of the day. Either that fucking moolie or me is gonna be in a bodybag."

The son of Nino, Peter is handed the Italian leadership but is unable to keep it.

Antonio Nappa

 Played By: Mark Margolis

 "Like God, man can finally create man in his own image and then sit back and watch all sorts of shit hit the fan."

Replaces the Schibetta leadership, and is far more old-school and thoughtful than Nino or Peter.

Chucky Pancamo

 Played By: Chuck Zito

The Italian muscle who slowly rises to become leader through circumstance.

  • Affably Evil
  • Ascended Extra: Went from being a heavy that followed Peter Schibetta around without saying much to a very prominant character.
  • Badass: He's played by Chuck Zito. The man was a bodyguard for Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone and Charles Bronson. That's a laundry list of badass people and Chuck was in charge of protecting them! He's also a former boxer and president of the Hell's Angels.
  • The Big Guy
  • Boisterous Bruiser
  • The Brute
  • Brooklyn Rage
  • The Ditz: Noticeably less intelligent than O'Reilly or Adebisi.

The Irish

Cyril O'Reily

 Played By: Scott William Winters

Ryan O'Reily's mentally-retarded younger brother, who suffered a head injury protecting Ryan and now requires constant supervision. An honest and good-hearted person, he is prone to outbursts of complete rage and is easy to fool -- a bad combo in a place like Oz, which is full of Manipulative Bastard types.

Timmy Kirk
Played By: Sean Dugan
—"How'd you like a blowjob?"

An Irish inmate who undergoes several religious conversions following a meeting with Jeremiah Cloutier.

The Latinos

Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez

 Played By: Luis Guzmán

A legendary Latino gangster, he takes over the gang from Alvarez and immediately ostracizes him for his Caucasian-like features. He controls his third of the drug trade with a respected iron fist, but eventually lack of success in offing Alvarez gets to him, and he goes nuts.

Enrique Morales

 Played By: David Zayas

A highly intelligent and powerful inmate who quickly becomes the Latino leader.

Carmen "Chico" Guerra

  • Ascended Extra: The only other Latino character to survive all the way through the show, outliving several other extras with no lines.
  • Flat Character: He pretty much exists to taunt Alvarez time and again, and cozy up to whomever is leading the Latinos at the moment.

The Christians

Jeremiah Cloutier

 Played By: Luke Perry

William Cudney

 Played By: Will Cote

Robert Sippel

 Played By: David Lansbury

  • The Atoner
  • Too Dumb to Live: Why would a child molester willingly come back to HIS OLD CELL just for a place to sleep? Sure enough, the Aryans crucify him on the gym floor just hours later.


The Others

Chris Keller

 Played By: Christopher Meloni

"At first I wanted unconditional surrender, then I wanted unconditional love."

A bisexual sociopath who is obsessed with controlling and manipulating others. Recruited by Vern, who he once had a sexual relationship with, to seduce Beecher for the express purpose of breaking his heart (and arms and legs). However, Keller ends up falling for Beecher and the two spend most of the series either together or apart due to Keller's possessiveness.

Shirley Bellinger

 Played By: Kathryn Erbe

The sole female inmate of Oz. She sparks quite a few romance attempts, notably from Adebisi. Cunning and manipulative, she seduced many guardians to obtain small favors.

Bob Rebadow

 Played By: George Morfogen

"God told me."

An elderly inmate serving a life term after being convicted for murder committed in a fit of rage in the 1960s. As a survivor of a botched execution and prison veteran, he is considered to be quite wise and often provides fatherly advice to Beecher and others.

Agamemnon Busmalis

 Played By: Tom Mardirosian

Yuri Kosygin

 Played By: Olek Krupa

Donald Groves

 Played By: Sean Whitesell

Lenny Burrano: Donald Groves. You killed your parents and ate them, right?

Groves: I only ate my mom. I was saving my dad for Thanksgiving.

Prison Guards

Diane Wittlesey

 Played By: Edie Falco

The token good-guy prison guard who ends up involved in a relationship with Tim McManus. Was played by Edie Falco, who left the show to go onto "The Sopranos", resulting in her character being Put on a Bus at the start of season four, via an impulse marriage with a guard at Buckingham Palace. Her role as the good-guy prison guard was later filled by Sean Murphy.

Claire Howell

 Played By: Kristin Rhode

A sexually aggressive and sadistic prison guard, who soon begins dominating and even raping the inmates.

Sean Murphy

 Played By: Robert Clohessey

Karl Metzger

 Played By: Bill Fagerbakke

Prison Staff

Father Ray Mukada

 Played By: BD Wong

"Eternal rest grant unto him, Oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine down upon him."

A Catholic priest who was assigned to Oz as punishment for pissing off a high ranking Cardinal over church corruption. Along with Sister Peter Marie, Mukada provides spiritual guidance to the inmates, often serving as good cop to Sister Peter Marie's bad cop.

Gloria Nathan

 Played By: Lauren Velez

An accomplished Latina doctor who is the main provider of medical care for the inmates. Throughout the series, she develops a love-hate relationship with Ryan O'Reily, most notably when Ryan becomes obsessed with Gloria and has her husband murdered so that they can be lovers.

Governor James Devlin

 Played By: Zeljko Ivanek

"Justice has been served!"

 Devlin: You've heard of Olympus, right? Mount Olympus, Ancient Greece, where the Gods lived?

McManus: Yeah.

Devlin: There was a hierarchy even among the Gods. Mercury was lesser than Apollo, Apollo lesser than Zeus. Now you run your cell block and you think you're a God. Glynn runs a whole prison, he thinks he's a greater God. Well, guys...I am Zeus. I am omnipotent. I must be obeyed...or my thunderbolts will strike.

Martin Querns

 Played By: Reg E Cathey

"Don't fuck with Querns."

A prison unit manager who's not above cutting deals with inmates to maintain order.

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