Rick Otto was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of three, to a detective father and nurse mother. Being raised by a police officer who ultimately rose to the ranks of Major commanding the Homicide Division of the Baltimore City Police Dept, formed Rick's desire to attend Law school upon graduation from Loyola College. This path was abruptly changed when Rick found himself on the set of NBC's drama Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). After encouragement and guidance from Tom Fontana, Rick scrapped his plans for law school and moved to New York City. He began studying at the renowned Herbert Berghof studio under the watchful eye of the iconic Uta Hagen. Rick also studied with other notable acting teachers Robert Lewis, William Hickey and Susan Batson. After performing in the plays "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "True West", as well as several NYU student films, Rick moved to Los Angeles where he met his wife Vanessa Angel. After several roles in independent films, he was chosen by acclaimed director Terrence Malick for a role in İnce kırmızı hat (1998). He then earned best actor at the Screamfest film festival for his work in R.S.V.P. (2002), which caught the eye of the late producer Robert F. Colesberry. Ironically, Mr. Colesberry brought Rick back to Baltimore to portray police officer "Kenneth Dozerman" in HBO's Peabody winning drama The Wire (2002). Rick has spent the past few years traveling between Los Angeles and Baltimore as a recurring character on the show. The final season begins airing in early 2008.