Chiké Okonkwo

Chiké Okonkwo (; born 18 March 1982) is a British actor. He is known for portraying PC Clark in New Tricks, DC Callum Gada in Paradox, Lee Truitt in Being Mary Jane, and Ty Coleman in La Brea.

Early life Born and brought up in Kingston upon Thames, Okonkwo is of Nigerian descent. He attended Tolworth Infants/Juniors School and Southborough High School in Hook, and later turned down a number of places at the UK's leading drama schools in order to pursue a university education, gaining a First Class degree in Business Computing from the University of Surrey, graduating in 2003.

Career Okonkwo was one of ten actors selected from 12,000 applicants for the BBC Talent Scheme in 2001, leading to his first professional acting role in Holby City. and was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre between 1999 and 2002. Okonkwo is the patron of the Kingston-based International Youth Arts Festival.

Okonkwo's stage credits include Oklahoma!, Into the Woods, Fixer, As You Like It, In Time and A Matter of Life and Death. He spent a year performing at the National Theatre, where he appeared in several productions including Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Okonkwo's film work includes Derailed (2005), Animal (2005) and Spirit Trap (2005). He has also appeared in the short films Tooting Broadway Flatmates and Knock Off.

On television, Okonkwo has made guest appearances in episodes of Holby City, Silent Witness, Casualty, M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team and Roman Mysteries. He also appeared in Blood and Oil, a BBC Two drama about the oil conflict in the Niger Delta. Okonkwo played the lead roles of PC Clark in the pilot and first series of New Tricks, and DC Callum Gada in Paradox.

Okonkwo is a long-standing member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) performing in their 50th Anniversary season in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and most recently in Gregory Doran's critically acclaimed production of Julius Caesar at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York in 2013.

He co-starred in The Birth of a Nation, which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016.

Acting Credits

Film Year Film Role Notes 2005 Spirit Trap Edmund Joseph Animal Doctor Derailed Paramedic 2007 Treasured Island Sam 2015 Genesis Abel 2016 The Birth of a Nation Will 2017 Burning Sands

Television Year Show Role Notes 2002Holby City Ian Clarke- Judas Kiss (Part One) (2002) Medical drama Silent Witness PC Ben Manning- Closed Ranks: Part One (2002)- Closed Ranks: Part Two (2002) Crime drama 2003 New Tricks PC Clark (2003–2004) Police drama Doctors Jordan Alan- Keeping the Peace (2003) Soap opera 2005 M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team Marlon Raines- Episode 2.3 (2005) Police drama 2006 The Royal Jermaine Johnson- Seeking Refuge (2006) Medical drama Shoot the Messenger Kwame Television play 2007 Roman Mysteries Kuanto- The Pirates of Pompeii (2007) Children's TV series Casualty Kristou Vadepied- Take a Cup of Kindness Yet (2007)- For Auld Lang Syne (2007) Medical drama 2008 Lewis Jonjo Read- Life Born of Fire (2008) Police drama Doctors Charlie Morgan- Gathering Light (2008) Soap opera 2009 Paradox DC Callum Gada Sci-fi crime drama 2010 Blood and Oil Ebi TV serial 2015 Banshee Lennox TV serialClass Ballon -The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did (2016) TV serial 2016–2019 Being Mary Jane Lee Truitt TV series 2021–2024 La Brea Ty Coleman TV series; Main role 2024 WondLa Besteel Voice role

Video games

Stage

Year Title Role Notes 2026 An Ideal Husband Sir Robert Chiltern Lyric Hammersmith