Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff (named "Melvin Flagstaff" during Season 2) is a fictional character on the HBO television series The Wire. He is portrayed by hip hop recording artist Method Man. He is a crew chief for his uncle Proposition Joe's drug organization and later works for the Stanfield Organization after betraying his uncle and handing him over to Marlo Stanfield. He is eventually killed by Slim Charles in the series finale. He is also the father of Randy Wagstaff according to creator David Simon, though this is never explored or even stated on the show.

Cheese is the nephew of Proposition Joe and a crew chief in his Eastside drug crew. He supplied Ziggy Sobotka with a narcotics package and, when Sobotka could not pay him back, set fire to his car and threatened to kill him. Nick Sobotka and La La intervened on Ziggy's behalf but could only convince Cheese to give Ziggy more time. Cheese was forced to back down when Nick involved The Greek – Proposition Joe's supplier of high-quality heroin. Cheese subsequently moved into Barksdale territory following an agreement with Stringer Bell, much to the chagrin of Bodie Broadus. Avon Barksdale was unaware of the agreement due to being incarcerated, and hired Brother Mouzone, who shot Cheese with rat shot to intimidate him and his colleagues.

Clifford Smith (born April 1, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman. He won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" with Mary J. Blige. In 2007, the writers of About.com placed him on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007).

Method Man appeared in the motion pictures Belly, How High, Garden State as well as a minor role in The Wackness. More recently, he appeared as a crewman in George Lucas' film Red Tails. On television, he and hip-hop collaborator Redman co-starred on the short-lived Fox sitcom Method & Red, and he had a recurring role on HBO's Oz as Tug Daniels and as Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff on the acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire.

Born in Staten Island, New York, on April 1 , 1971, Clifford Smith divided his childhood between his father's Long Island residence and his mother's home in the Park Hill section of Staten Island aka Killa Hill. He has two sisters, Terri and Missy.