Characters of Oz

The characters of Oz are a diverse mixture of inmates from various gangs and prison staff.

ponsors

Due to Emerald City's unconventional configuration and routine, each new inmate is given a sponsor to help them get acclimated to Em City. Sponsor pairing seems to be random; however, specific requests have occasionally been made. Below is a list of inmates and sponsors.

Inmates

The inmates in Oz are a wide variety imprisoned for different crimes. Some inmates such as Adebisi and Schillinger are purely evil sociopaths with little moral compromise. Others such as Beecher are imprisoned for single mistakes in life. The entire show though does go back and forth between showing the inmates as savage and human with most of the inmates getting shown as both at some point throughout the series.

Prison groups

There are ten main groups of prisoners on Oz, all divided by ethnicity, religion or other characteristics. The prison is 78% minority and racial problems constantly arise throughout the series. The groups were denoted in the second episode of Season 2, when Tim McManus formed an inmate council consisting of one member of each group. He determined that four prisoners from each description would be in Em City at all times; no more, no less. This system was scrapped when Querns briefly took over and started removing whites from the unit in favor of black inmates, but was (apparently) reinstituted when McManus took over. On occasion, new inmates would be inserted directly into Em City; in this case, someone would have to leave for Unit B.

Each of the groups are described below:

* Muslims: The Black Muslims are an African-American group of prisoners who read the Qur'an and look to improve life and conditions for blacks in general. They wish to expose what they perceive is racism, brutality, and injustice in the prison system whenever an opportunity arises. Led mainly by Kareem Said, the Muslims are against drugs and homosexuality. They for the most part get along with various gangs, until a fight breaks out with the Aryans; however, the Muslims are often left alone and not harassed due to their solidarity and numbers. They avoid contact with the Homeboys. In contrast to other gang leaders in Oz, Saïd himself is not feared as much as he is respected for proving himself to be smart, tough, and charismatic. Everybody knows that the Muslims will leave them alone if nothing is done to provoke them. The wiser gang leaders in Oz avoid conflict with them, and the not-so-wise ones who start conflict with them usually come to regret it. Saïd was however briefly deposed as leader after becoming emotionally involved with a (white) woman, and allowing Tobias Beecher to join the group.

* Homeboys: The second African-American group, these prisoners look to control the drug trade within Oz. Having the most soldiers of any group, they often have leadership and discipline conflicts; the vast majority of their members not only sell drugs, but heavily use them. Mainly led by Jefferson Keane, Simon Adebisi and Burr Redding, the Homeboys commit several murders and look to guarantee a spot in the drug trade by any means possible. They are feared by most inmates and are mainly in conflict with the Italian and Latino gangs.

* Aryans: The Aryan Brotherhood, led by Vernon Schillinger, are a white supremacist gang which hates blacks, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Chinese, and anyone who isn't purely white. They are one of the most sadistic gangs in Oz, raping and killing several inmates. They are against drug use and remain allied with the Bikers throughout the series.

* Bikers: The Bikers are a white gang which loves two things - "Tits and Tattoos." Although not involved in the drug dealing business, several of their members are heavy users. They also have the most tattoos of any group in Oz. Their key members are Scott Ross, followed by Jaz Hoyt. They are allied with the Aryan Brotherhood, and form a sort of back up in the case of black inmates attacking any member. Ross is most notorious for being killed by one of the hacks during a riot when he shoots Tim McManus.

* Italians: Willing to work with other gangs for dealing drugs, the Italians are often confronted by the Homeboys in order to dominate the drug trade. They are first led by Nino Schibetta, whose son Peter later takes over the group after Schibetta dies a the result of Simon Adebisi and Ryan O'Reily's scheme in which they had been grinding ground glass into his food over the period of a few months. Peter is later raped by Adebisi and suffers a nervous breakdown. The Italians are then led by Antonio Nappa and Chucky Pancamo. Nappa is killed by another inmate in the AIDS ward after Adibisi deliberately infects him with HIV-tainted blood. They often have influence within the prison staff as well, managing to pay off and hire several members to allow them to conduct their business. They are also the most connected gang outside of Oz and set up several murders (most notably Tobias Beecher's hit on Schillinger's son, Hank) and drug trades for a negotiable price. Most if not all of the Italian inmates' ancestors come from Sicily.

* The Latinos: The Hispanic gang in Oz, called El Norte, are mostly drug dealers. The Latinos in Oz are mostly of Puerto Rican ancestry. This gang is extremely ruthless, especially under the leadership of Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez. They work with the Italians more often when Enrique Morales runs the group. Throughout the series, inmate Miguel Alvarez often has his loyalty to the gang questioned due to an ongoing feud with Latino inmate Carmen Guerra.

* The Irish: The Irish are a smaller white gang, composed mainly of street hoodlums who wish to work with the drug dealing powers in Oz. The main focus of this gang is Ryan O'Reily, a cunning sociopath who works with and around the most dangerous inmates in Oz, often unharmed. They are not on good terms with the Aryans, ever since Schillinger raped O'Reily's younger brother, Cyril O'Reily. Other Irish inmates are Timmy Kirk, Henry Stanton, Patrick Keenan, Padraig Connolly, Brian O'Callaghan, Liam Meaney, and Seamus O'Reily (Ryan and Cyril's father).

* The Christians: The Christians are a background gang in Oz that is predominantly white and use their religion to provide sanction for their members. Not a potential danger to any other gang, they get along with everyone and are more known when Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier comes to Oz for embezzlement.

* The Gays: The gay inmates are a combination of feminine and cross-dressing inmates. However, this group does not include all of the inmates involved in homosexual activity (most notably Beecher and Keller, who are in a homosexual relationship) rather only the ones who seem most effeminate and flamboyant. Notable characters from this otherwise backgrounded group include Tony Masters, Fiona, Nat Ginzburg, Billie Keane, Jason Cramer, and Alonzo Torquemada. Due to their lack of control of anything illegal and the homophobic views of the other inmates, the Gays are often viewed at the lower end of the inmate power structure. Because of their sexual orientation, they are also frequently targeted for rape by various gangs such as the Aryans, Homeboys and Latinos.

* Others: The others are an outcast group in Oz. Most provide little disciplinary problems to both the staff and other inmates. Robert Rebadow, Chris Keller, Omar White, Augustus Hill, Agamemnon Busmalis, Donald Groves, Jackson Vahue and Tobias Beecher have all been in this group. Rebadow claims to have survived the electric chair in 1965 during a power failure which caused a blackout to much of the northeastern United States. Keller is suspected of having killed three homosexual men after first having sex with them. White is a particular thorn in the side of McManus and will do anything for drugs. Hill, narrator at the beginning of each episode, is the one constant, even after he dies during the series. Busmalis is the "mole" who is always attempting to dig his way out of Oz and has a crush on "Miss Sally," a voluptuous television personality who hosts a tv show with two puppets each day. He develops a romantic relationship with one of Miss Sally's assistants and, after first being stood up by her at the altar, marries the assistant in a later episode. Vahue is a famous NBA basketball player locked up for assault and attempted rape. Beecher was a successful attorney until one day when he ran over a little girl riding her bicycle when he was drunk. In many respects Beecher, like Hill, is one of the constants of the show.

Aryans

*James Robson (R. E. Rodgers): An Aryan who does little of consequence early in the series (aside from making an ill-advised advance on Beecher, which results in the head of his penis being bitten off) but in later seasons becomes Schillinger's boon companion. However, the insulting of an Islamic dentist during the need for a gum transplant causes turmoil for him. After being called Goonga, the dentist intentionally installs the gum tissue of a black man inside of him which causes him to be kicked out of the Aryan Brotherhood for being racially impure. Thus his life is put into complete disarray.
*Vernon Schillinger (J. K. Simmons): leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, Schillinger commits atrocities against other inmates because of race, sexual orientation, or overall weakness.

Bikers

*Jaz Hoyt (Evan Seinfeld): Leader of the Bikers in Em City. A tattooed muscleman in prison for beating up a video store clerk in a dispute over store policy. Appears in episodes 15-18, 24 - 54, 56. He eventually becomes a member of the Aryan Brotherhood as do many of the other bikers as the Biker Gang loses influence and numbers.

Christians

*Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier (Luke Perry) (2001-2002)
*Timmy Kirk (Sean Dugan) (2nd, 4th-6th Season)

Gays

*Richie Hanlon (Jordan Lage): Gets set up for the murder of another inmate by Schillinger. He eventually slips free only to have his neck slit by Nikolai Stanislofsky in the shower room. Stanislofsky was a friend of the inmate Hanlon was believed to have murdered.
*Fiona Zonioni (James Palacio) (2nd-6th Season)]

Homeboys

*Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje): A gigantic, deranged maniac of Nigerian descent; incarcerated for decapitating a police officer with a machete. His flirtations with insanity and religion are transient. However, Adebisi remains one of the most powerful inmates within the walls of Oz up until his death. Appears in episodes 1-32.
*Arnold "Poet" Jackson (muMs da Schemer): A black inmate in the Homeboys, Poet has a talent for writing. However, his heroin addiction pulls him under and causes him to get incarcerated and violate his early parole. Remains a full fledged Homeboy throughout the series by helping with the African-American drug trade within the prison.
*Jefferson Keane (Leon): (1st Season)
*Paul Markstrom (O.L. Duke) (1st Season)
*Johnny Post (Tim McAdams) (1st Season)
*Burr Redding (Anthony Chisholm): Leads the Homeboys from 2001-2003. He is an old black man who is a veteran of the Vietnam War and the streets. His best friend was Augustus Hill's father, though he loved Augustus Hill's mother in some special way, which leaves a question about Hill's real father. Appears in episodes 34-56.
*Kenny Wangler (J. D. Williams): Young member of the Homeboy gang on Oz from 1997-2000. Enters prison at age of 16. Appears in episodes 2-25.

Irish

*Cyril O'Reily (Scott William Winters): Ryan O'Reily's mentally handicapped brother who was incarcerated after blindly following Ryan's orders to murder the husband of Dr. Gloria Nathan, who Ryan is obsessed with. He was mentally incapacitated in a gang fight. Appears in episodes 11, 13-56.
*Ryan O'Reily (Dean Winters): An Irish hoodlum who does what it takes to survive. Compared to "Othello"'s Iago by show creator Fontana, he is responsible for almost every death in the show's first season.

Italians

*Joey D'Angelo (Goodfella Mike G.)
*Antonio Nappa (Mark Margolis) (2nd-3rd Season)
*Dino Ortolani (Jon Seda) (killed in the first episode)
*Chucky Pancamo (Chuck Zito): takes over as leader of the Italian inmates after the deaths of Nino Schibetta and Antonio Nappa. A pragmatist, he forms alliances with other gang leaders, subject, of course, to revision as the circumstances warrant. Appears in episodes 36-56.
*Nino Schibetta (Tony Musante): the show's first leader of the Sicilians. He is the prisoner who rules all until Simon Adebisi and Ryan O'Reily decide to secretly murder him.
*Peter Schibetta (Eddie Malavarca): Nino Schibetta's son, who got into Oz for money laundering. Tried to take the place of his father, but failed to establish respect from inmates and "The Family" alike. Was deposed by The Family and replaced.

Latinos

*Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo): Goes through a process of losing masculine credibility within the latino gang, then tries to redeem himself after cutting out a respectable prison guard's eyes. Appears in episodes 1-26, 34-36, 41-56.
*Carmen Guerra (Otto Sanchez) (1998-end of series)
*Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez (Luis Guzmán): A leader of the Latino inmates. Appears in episodes 14-27.
*Enrique Morales (David Zayas): A leader of the Latino inmates, he makes his first impression on Oz by getting Hernandez killed. Appears in episodes 27-53.

Muslims

*Zahir Arif (Granville Adams) (1st-6th Season)
*Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker): A brilliant Muslim leader with a powerful voice and a conviction that other people's racism will absolve him. Appears in episodes 1-51.

"Others"

"Those inmates named as "The Others" by McManus in Season 2, and inmates who later belong to this "gang"
*Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen): Was a middle class lawyer in denial about his alcoholism until landing in prison forced him to confront himself and become self-sufficient. His character undergoes the most drastic changes throughout the seasons, during which he becomes a drug addict, falls in love with a man and finds Islam. His relationship with Keller and blood feud with Schillinger is the series' dominant story arc, beginning in the first episode and not being resolved until the series finale.
*Agamemnon Busmalis (Tom Mardirosian): Known as "the Mole", he is an expert tunneller and escape artist. He tries to escape Oz three times. The first tunnel he dug was claimed by two Aryans, and he sabotaged the tunnel, getting them killed when it collapsed. He eventually does escape, but gets apprehended when he shows up outside a celebrity's house to get her autograph. He eventually becomes engaged to the secretary of TV personality Miss Sally, Norma, although she never shows up to the wedding. While she cheats on him and becomes pregnant with another man's child, ultimately Norma returns to "Oz" and marries Agamemnon, making him the happiest and luckiest bastard on earth.
*Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.): Physically disabled, but socially astute.
*Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni): A bisexual serial killer who preyed upon gay men in the outside world while hiding his sexual orientation through a series of marriages. Perhaps the most amoral figure in the entire milieu, he is a master of emotional manipulation and only seems to really enjoy himself when those who care about him are made to suffer. His relationship with Beecher is also a big part in many episodes. Keller appears in episodes 12-25, 27-36, 42-56.
*Robert Rebadow (George Morfogen): An elderly inmate serving life for murder. He was sentenced to death originally, but in 1965 he survived a botched execution and had his sentence commuted. He is fantastically intuitive (some think as a result of the botched execution), which in the first couple of seasons he explains by nonchalantly saying "God told me"; later he begins to doubt the source and the veracity of his insights.
*Nikolai Stanislofsky (Philip Casnoff): A Russian Jew who has many conflicts with Ryan O'Reily, resulting in his "electrocution when taking a bath" at the hands of Claire Howell. Appears in episodes 19 - 31.

Inmates not associated with any gang

*Ricardo Alvarez (Tomas Milian): Miguel's grandfather. Though Hispanic, he spends much of his prison life in solitary confinement, and takes no active role in the Latino gang.
*Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe): The first and only female inmate of Oz, she was sentenced to death for murdering her daughter. She is housed in the Death Row among other prisoners sentenced to death. Shirley enjoyed teasing the other inmates, using her sexuality to hide dark secrets about her marriage. Appears in episodes 11-28, 50.
*William Giles (Austin Pendleton) (1998, 2000-2002)
*Donald Groves (Sean Whitesell) A psychotic prisoner who murdered both his parents, for which he has no remorse. Is left alone by the other inmates as they fear him. Groves attempted to kill Leo Glenn and instead killed a CO (1st Season)
*Desmond Mobay/Detective John Basil (Lance Reddick) - A narcotics police officer. Undercover, he hangs with the Others and tries to make in-roads with the drug trafficking gangs, particularly the Homeboys. His cover is eventually exposed and he is moved to Unit J (the police unit) for crimes committed in Em City.
*Omar White (Michael Wright) (4th-6th Season) - White is in close with the Homeboys, but his battle with drug addiction, his on/off relationship with McManus and his time in solitary prevent him from taking a role in the gang.

Prison Staff

The corrections officer (COs) are mostly white (predominantly Irish and Italian) with many black and some Latino officers. The warden, Leo Glynn is African American and started off his career as a CO at Oz. Most of the COs come from lower socio-economic classes. Some are amoral and prone to corruption. The main unit manager, Tim McManus, is the only authority figure who has not started off as a guard and this therefore gives him a different point of view about how to deal with the inmates. The rest of the non-correctional staff, such as Dr. Gloria Nathan and psychiatrist Sister Peter Marie ("Sister Pete") Reimondo, have a much more humane view of prisoners, and often push Glynn and the others to see the inmates as human beings. Overall, different factions within the staff are almost always at odds, trying to manage internal problems while keeping the public calm regarding the way the prison is being managed.

*Warden Leo Glynn played by Ernie Hudson. A conflicted person trying to maintain law and order in an often chaotic environment. He does what he can to manage every conflict present in Oz. Sister Pete calls him "the best man for the worst job." Appears in episodes 1-55.
*Tim McManus played by Terry Kinney. A liberal idealist who forms Emerald City for purposes of making a perfect prison where rehabilitation and conflict are resolved. Often seen as weak for supposedly soft approaches to dealing with the inmates, he still manages to come out on top of many situations. Appears in episodes 1 - 26, 28-56.
*Sister Peter Marie played by Rita Moreno. A psychiatrist and nun, she is the main force of good inside of the prison and often is helpful to McManus, Father Ray Mukada and Nathan in whatever conflict they are trying to solve. Gave serious thought to leaving the church after developing feelings for Chris Keller.
*Diane Wittlesey played by Edie Falco. A CO who is faced with managing several issues at home, a relationship with McManus, and being fair to the inmates. Appears in episodes 1-18, 20-24.
*Father Ray Mukada played by B. D. Wong. A Catholic priest who often provides spiritual counsel to many of the inmates, especially Miguel Alvarez. He assists Sister Pete in being the main force of good on the show. Appears in episodes 2-46, 49-56.
*Dr. Gloria Nathan played by Lauren Velez. A prison doctor who leads the prison hospital in providing care for several of the inmates within Oz. A good person, she deals with conflict all the time, whether it is from the inmates such as Ryan O'Reily, or state medical boards. She manages to come out calmly throughout any conflict.
*Claire Howell played by Kristin Rohde. A female CO, she is extremely unstable and prone to sadistic sexual violence. She has sexual relationships with several staff members and inmates in order to dominate them. She eventually begins to change after learning that she is pregnant, probably by Carlos Martinez. Appears in episodes 17-39, 41-56.
*Sean Murphy played by Robert Clohessy. An Irish CO, Murphy is the staff member most trusted by McManus. A fair and confident officer, Murphy maintains order to the best of his ability in Oz while doing what he can to support McManus' ideology. He is more honest and competent than the other guards and Warden Glynn also holds him in high regard. Appears in episodes 18-55.
*Clayton Hughes played by Seth Gilliam. A young and conflicted African American officer, Hughes is very close to Glynn. Hughes' father was Glynn's best friend and was killed while working as a CO when Hughes was seven years old. After being convinced by Adebisi that his father's murder was racially motivated, Hughes becomes a Black Militant and attempts to murder the governor. Hughes is sent to Unit-J in Oz which is meant for ex-cops and ex-correctional officers. In Unit-J he kills Desmond Mobay aka John Basil. Then he is sent to Solitary, where he gets "accidentally" killed when attempting to assassinate Leo Glynn.
*Karl Metzger played by Bill Fagerbakke. A white supremacist guard who took over Wittlesey's position in Emerald City after she was transferred to General Population. He is secretly a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, and once did a favor for two Aryans by forcing Busmalis and Rebadow to give up their cell, which contained a tunnel. Tim McManus found out that he has connections with the Aryans, but couldn't do anything about it before Metzger was killed by Beecher.
*Martin Querns played by Reg E. Cathey. A jaded and results-oriented black man, Querns is hired by Glynn after pressure by community leaders to hire an African American Unit Manager in Oz. Querns, as told through a conversation to Adebisi, is only different from the black inmates in that he has been smart enough to have never been arrested for dealing drugs. The complete opposite of McManus, he believes that drugs are good for the prisoners because they subdue them until they're incapable of any discipline problems. He runs Emerald City by making Adebisi and his supporters the main trustees, allowing them to do all the drugs that they wish as long as no violence occurs. Kareem Said and McManus completely oppose this which leads to his firing. His efficiency, however, promotes him to the position of warden at several state correctional facilities including Oz.
*Officer Mike Healy (Steve Ryan) A disgruntled and corrupt officer, Healy has a very low opinion of both the inmates and Unit Manager Tim McManus. Healy does get along with inmate Ryan O'Reilly whom he helps sell drugs to. When Italian leader Nino Schibetta sees that Healy is competing with him in selling drugs, he makes a deal with O'Reilly. O'Reilly is told he will be a permanent ally of the Italians if he shuts Healy's operation down. Knowing the politics of Oz, O'Reilly gets inmate Ronald Pokelwaldt to alert the COs of a drug deal going on between Healy and O'Reilly where the two are immediately arrested. When Healy is fired and charged, O'Reilly refuses to testify spending a month in the hole, but makes sure his scheme shall never be discovered by ratting Pokelwaldt to the hacks, who hospitalize him.
* Stella Coffo (Patti LuPone). The librarian of Oz. Seemed to develop a crush on Robert Rebadow, but she was a little reluctant because she had a terminal disease.
*Suzanne Fitzgerald (Betty Lynn Buckley): Inmate Ryan O'Reily's biological mother. Musical arts teacher at Oz.

Others

*Governor James Devlin played by Zeljko Ivanek. A right-wing politician, Governor Devlin represents all extreme mechanisms of law and order necessary to keep society crime free. He passes several acts to minimize prisoner rights and increase law enforcement spending. Disliked by several staff members and the vast majority of the inmates, Devlin eventually is in a sea of controversy once a city mayor whom he was politically involved with is sent to Oz for conspiring to commit a racially motivated bombing.
*Alvah Case. Law school Dean; he investigates the prison riot after season one and, in season four, runs for governor against Devlin.
*"Miss Sally's Schoolyard" (Miss Sally played by Whitney Allen) is a puppet show that the inmates enjoy watching due to the fact that Miss Sally has large breasts.