Did you spot these famous faces in 'Homicide: Life on the Street'?

Take a look back at some of the famous faces you might have missed in this award-winning crime drama.

Homicide: Life on the Street

L-R: Clark Johnson as Det. Meldrick Lewis, Steve Buscemi as Gordon Pratt and Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch. Credit: Michael Ginsburg / NBCU Photo Bank

For a show that broke new ground in the crime genre for its realistic portrayal of life on the streets of Baltimore through the eyes of its detectives, the cult hit Homicide: Life On the Street was also a gathering ground for stars both new and established. Many of the show's guest actors would either go on to appear in other nineties television hits such Law & Order or The X-Files, or eventually transform into heavyweights of the entertainment industry.

From ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ cameos, to memorable guest turns in some of the show’s most impactful episodes, it’s clear that Homicide’s producers had a keen eye for top-notch talent when assembling its sprawling cast of characters, even long before the days of “prestige TV”. Crucially however, they also understood how best to utilise these actors’ skills so that each performance never outshines the grounded world around them.

Robin Williams

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Robin Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal (left) in 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Credit: NBC
Perhaps the starriest and most memorable guest performance in the series history, the late Robin Williams portrayal of a grieving widower seeking justice for the murder of his wife is the perfect showcase of the Oscar winner’s raw vulnerability, which endeared him to audiences for over four decades.

By this point very much a household name, Williams was in the middle of a popular run of family films that included the likes of Hook, Aladdin, and Mrs. Doubtfire, when he would momentarily switch gears to play the role of Robert Ellison in the season two episode 'Bop Gun'. Written by David Mills and David Simon of The Wire fame, it would mark an important turning point for the series and see Williams receive an Emmy nomination.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Once again featured in the season two episode 'Bop Gun', an impossibly young Jake Gyllenhaal plays the son of Robin Williams’s character. This was Gyllenhaal’s first credited television role after his breakout appearance in the film City Slickers at age 11, and long before cult hit Donnie Darko properly catapulted him into the spotlight.

It was a family connection that led to Gyllenhaal’s casting in the series, with his father Stephen Gyllenhaal helming the episode. A prolific director of both the big and small screen, Gyllenhaal’s father would go on to work with his son on multiple projects along with his daughter Maggie, an accomplished actor and director.

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Thumbnail of Bop Gun

Bop Gun

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M

Steve Buscemi

Homicide: Life on the Street
Tony Lo Bianco as Mitch Drummond and Steve Buscemi as Gordon Pratt. Credit: Michael Ginsburg / NBCU
By the mid-nineties, having worked with everyone from the Coen Brothers to Quentin Tarantino, Steve Buscemi would take on the role of Gordon Pratt in the season 3 episode 'End Game'.

Buscemi plays a suspect in a high-profile triple homicide that claimed the lives of three detectives. The character joins a long line of memorable supporting roles for the beloved actor, who has basically worked non-stop for the better part of four decades after first leaving his job as a New York firefighter back in early eighties.

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Thumbnail of End Game: Part 3

End Game: Part 3

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
45m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
45m
M

Elijah Wood

Homicide: Life on the Street
L-R: Clark Johnson as Det. Meldrick Lewis, Elijah Wood as McPhee Broadman and Kyle Secor as Det. Tim Bayliss. Credit: NBCU
Long before Lord of the Rings would turn him into a bona fide Hollywood A-lister, Elijah Wood was a successful child actor starring in harmless family fare like North and the 1996 remake of Flipper. In this season five episode of the series, the then 16-year-old was given the chance to play against type as a privileged student questioned as part of a murder investigation at a prestigious private school.

With none of the warmth and stoicism that he would later showcase as Frodo Baggins, Wood has a blast playing the spoiled rich kid type with unabashed glee, nailing the sense of entitlement one must possess to see themselves above the law.

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Thumbnail of The True Test

The True Test

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M

James Earl Jones

Homicide: Life on the Street
James Earl Jones as Felix Wilson and Andre Braugher as Det. Frank Pembleton. Credit: Michael Ginsburg / NBCU
Already a Hollywood icon by the time this block of episodes from season six aired, James Earl Jones would showcase his trademark humanity and pathos in the three-part storyline, 'Blood Ties'.

Playing wealthy businessman and philanthropist Felix Wilson in an intricately woven story arc that takes many surprising twists and turns, it’s a typically powerful performance from the late actor in an episode in where our loyalties shift between Wilson, his son and the conflicted detectives pursuing the case of a Haitian worker who is murdered on the family’s premises under suspicious circumstances.

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Thumbnail of Blood Ties: Part 1

Blood Ties: Part 1

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M

Paul Giamatti

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Paul Giamatti in season 6 of Homicide: Life on the Street Credit: © NBC Studios, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Before he became fixture of awards season in films like The Holdovers and Sideways, Paul Giamatti was an in-demand supporting actor churning out scene-stealing performances in both film and TV. 1998 was a huge year for the Oscar nominated actor, with small but memorable turn in films as varied as Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show and The Negotiator.

Here he plays a vengeful dog owner who becomes the subject of police questioning after his pet pit bulls are found to have mauled his own grandfather to death - an act for which Giamatti’s character shows little remorse. In a long line of curmudgeons played by Giamatti throughout his career, Harry Tjarks is perhaps one of his most deplorable.

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Thumbnail of Pit Bull Sessions

Pit Bull Sessions

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
42m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
42m
M

Chris Rock

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Chris Rock and Andre Braugher. Credit: © NBC Studios, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
It’s hard to believe now, but before he was hosting awards shows and selling out arenas all over the world as part of his acclaimed stand-up routine, in 1996 Chris Rock was a working comedian picking up guest spots in monster hits like Miami Vice and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Appearing in the season four episode 'Requiem for Adena' - the title of which is a call back to an iconic earlier episode of the series, in which detectives Pembleton and Bayliss race against the clock to wrestle a confession out of a suspect for the tragic murder of a young girl, Adena Watson. In this later episode, the detectives are assigned to a fresh homicide that bears an eerie resemblance to the Watson case, with Rock’s character set firmly in their crosshairs.

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Thumbnail of Requiem for Adena

Requiem for Adena

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
45m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
45m
M

Marcia Gay Harden

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Marcia Gay Harden in 'Homicide: LIfe on the Streets'. Credit: © NBC Studios, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
In 1995, with an eventual Oscar win still some years off, actress Marcia Gay Harden was on a run of network television appearances, with a slew of roles in nineties small screen staples like Chicago Hope.

In this season four episode of the series, she plays the desperate mother of a young boy fighting for his life after an accidental shooting. Gay Harden turns in a heartbreaking performance as a conflicted parent watching over her potentially brain-dead child, as detectives Pembleton and Bayliss desperately search for a gunman on the run.

Stream free On Demand

Thumbnail of A Doll's Eyes

A Doll's Eyes

episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M
episode • Homicide: Life on the Street • 
Crime drama • 
44m
M


All seven season of Homicide Life on the Street are streaming at SBS On Demand, along with Homicide: The Movie.

Stream free On Demand

Thumbnail of Homicide: Life on the Street

Homicide: Life on the Street

series • 
Crime drama
MA15+
series • 
Crime drama
MA15+

Stream free On Demand

Thumbnail of Homicide: The Movie

Homicide: The Movie

drama • 
2000
drama • 
2000
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Finally, here's your chance to revisit cult classic ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’


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6 min read
Published 24 February 2025 12:24pm
Updated 24 February 2025 12:42pm
By Ben Skinner
Source: SBS

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