Capt. Arthur Fancy is a fictional character in the television series NYPD Blue. He was played by James McDaniel from season one through eight. The fictional character appears in all 167 episodes from the show's 1993 pilot to the 2001 episode depicting his departure. Capt. Fancy is the focus of several storylines per season and plays a supporting role in other episodes. Background Fancy states in late summer 1995 that he is 42 years old and that he was 41 when his wife gave birth in January 1995, placing his birthday sometime between January and August 1953. He also alluded in season 2 to recently passing his 20-year service mark on the police force, supporting the notion that he joined in 1974 at the minimum age of 21. Fancy was one of the newer African American commanders on a force previously controlled by Irish American police officers. According to bigoted officer Jack Hanlon during a conversation with John Kelly, the force was up until the 1960s a majority Irish American department with some Italian American and Jewish officers, but only a few African Americans. Fancy's storylines often deal with the challenges of being an African American lieutenant on the NYPD. Fancy commands the respect of both black community activists and the entirely white upper leadership of the NYPD and often acts as a mediator between the two during racially tense investigations. He expresses a pragmatic attitude towards older cops' outdated beliefs - at one point, Fancy tells Andy Sipowicz that he accepts having to manage Sipowicz's racist thought patterns because if Sipowicz were removed from the squad his replacement would inevitably be someone just as bigoted but less competent at the job. At the same time, he maintains a hard line towards overt acts of bigotry. Fancy out-maneuvers the attempts of his superior, Captain Haverill, who flatly believes that there should be no black commanders in the department, to frame him for misconduct and threatens a civil lawsuit over racial discrimination; engineers consequences for the uniformed officer Szymanski for a racially motivated traffic stop; and demands that a victim's father who will not stop yelling racial slurs be removed from the precinct house. Family Fancy's wife Lillian is played by Tamara Tunie; they have two daughters when the show begins and a son, Arthur Jr., born during the run of the show. The family also participates in the foster children