From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. James McDaniel (born March 25, 1958; Washington, D.C.) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on the television show NYPD Blue. He also played a police officer in the ill-fated 1990 series Cop Rock, and a close advisor to activist Malcolm X in the 1992 film Malcolm X. He also played Sgt. Jesse Longford in the ABC television series Detroit 1-8-7. McDaniel won a 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, NYPD Blue, and won the 2006 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special, "Edge of America". McDaniel was in the same acting company at SUNY Purchase with actor Jay O. Sanders. Description above from the Wikipedia article James McDaniel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.