Cheese Wagstaff

Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff (named "Melvin Flagstaff" during Season 2, possibly due to faulty police information) is a fictional character on the HBO television series The Wire. He is portrayed by hip hop recording artist Method Man. He is a crew chief for his uncle Proposition Joe's drug organization and later works for the Stanfield Organization after betraying his uncle. He is also the father of Randy Wagstaff according to creator David Simon, though this is never explored or even stated on the show.

Character biography

Season two

Cheese is the nephew of Proposition Joe and a crew chief in his Eastside drug crew. He supplied Ziggy Sobotka with a narcotics package and, when Sobotka could not pay him back, set fire to his car and threatened to kill him. Nick Sobotka and La La intervened on Ziggy's behalf but could only convince Cheese to give Ziggy more time. Cheese was forced to back down when Nick involved The Greek – Proposition Joe's supplier of high-quality heroin. Cheese subsequently moved into Barksdale territory following an agreement with Stringer Bell, much to the chagrin of Bodie Broadus. Avon Barksdale was unaware of the agreement due to being incarcerated, and hired Brother Mouzone, who shot Cheese with rat shot to intimidate him and his colleagues.