SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In "The Wire," Jim True-Frost played a character often flummoxed by the challenges of his jobs - police detective and middle school teacher in inner city Baltimore.

Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski's predicaments could seem overwhelming. Yet, while "Prez", the cop, and "Mr. P," the teacher, had brushes with catastrophe in the five-season TV series, the character also had moments of unexpected success.

Jim True-Frost as Baltimore police officer Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski in "The Wire."

In Syracuse, where True-Frost and his wife, Cora, live with their two children, one of whom is quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, the role of parent doesn't have the luxury of a rehearsal.

Two weekends ago the True-Frosts were part of a Tecumseh Road Elementary School fundraiser to replace a 25- year-old splintering wood playground with a new handicapped-accessible playground.

Their oldest child, five-year-old Leo, was born with cerebral palsy. Sometime during the birth process, oxygen to his brain was impeded. He's smart but doesn't speak. He gets most of his nourishment through a feeding tube, and has been communicating with an iPad since he was two.

At the fund-raiser, held at the Jamesville-Dewitt High School track, Leo steered his motorized wheel-chair twice around. He was joyous to be outdoors under the sun with his friends and kindergarten teacher. His typing is a form of abbreviated texting that people around him piece together. He typed "tmrriw" and someone said "See you tomorrow!" He typed "art" and his teacher said "Yes, we have art tomorrow."

The accessibility issue concerns True-Frost enough that the actor, recognizable to millions of TV and film viewers, is stepping out from a relatively private life in Syracuse to talk about the needs of children with physical challenges.

"I'm probably like a lot of people," True-Frost said, about his advocacy for handicapped accessibility. "Until it happens (the birth of a child with physical challenges) I didn't have that much awareness about what it's all about. We've been on a very steep learning curve."

During a fundraising campaign with a $60,000 goal for a new playground, friends and fans of the True-Frosts have brought in about $3,500, True-Frost said.

At the fundraiser the 100 or so parents and children raised another $5,000, bringing their total to $41,210.

The $60,000 will get them a bright, modern playground with stairs and ladders and slides. New Americans with Disabilities Act rules that went into effect last year dictate that the playground will have some way for a child who uses a wheelchair, like Leo, to get to the structure and play with features. The playground planning committee has agreed to earmark funds for a ramp providing access to the main structure. But True-Frost, who knows intimately the limits a child who uses a wheelchair faces, is pleased about the ramp but wonders, what if?

"What if we built a thing that's truly integrated, not just with one feature set off to the side," True-Frost said, "where disabled kids have some 'separate but equal' space, but designed in a way where a kid in a wheel chair could clamber across the whole thing, roll from one side to the other across a bridge with all sorts of panels of things that kids with hearing or sight impairments or kids with sensory issues could easily interact with?"

He mentions the Wegmans playground at Onondaga Lake Park, which cost $350,000, as an example of a place where children of all abilities can play together.

Tecumseh's playground design isn't finalized, and True-Frost realizes that more accessibility features would likely mean more money would need to be raised. The True-Frosts themselves plan to contribute toward the end of the campaign.

Why is True-Frost in Syracuse? Because of his wife, Cora. She teaches international and domestic criminal law and international human rights law at Syracuse University College of Law. She earned her first law degree at SU and a master's degree in public administration from the Maxwell School in 2001.

They were married without children then, and True-Frost performed in a number of Syracuse Stage plays under the direction of Bob Moss: "A Christmas Carol," "Beauty Queen of Leenane," "Inherit the Wind," and "Art." He'd also had roles in films such as "Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), directed by Ethan Coen and starring Paul Newman, Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Then came "The Wire" in 2002 and True-Frost's regularly-recurring appearance as "Prez," the role for which he is most often associated.

He says he's regularly recognized around Syracuse, usually by fans of "The Wire," or sometimes for other network series in which he has appeared.

Jim True-Frost as Roland Pryzbylewski or "Mr. P" teaching Baltimore middle school in "The Wire."

"The Wire" is a crime drama television series set and produced in and around Baltimore. It ran from 2002 to 2008, each season focusing on a different aspect of urban life: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media.

Some critics described it as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. A course at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government used "The Wire" in a course on urban inequality.

"It was fantastic," said True-Frost. "It was really inspiring material, something that was really important and had a sociological and political statement, great dramatic writing, really good characters and a lot of good actors. I had a great time."

Since "The Wire," True-Frost, 47, has been performing regularly on TV series and in films, traveling to shoots from wherever they are living - Syracuse; Cambridge, Mass.; and Syracuse again for the past 2A1/2 years.

"It's a tradeoff," living in Syracuse and having a career as an actor, he said. "It's not exactly convenient. It adds a lot of time and effort seeking and going to work and remaining involved in the business. But at mid-career I felt if I didn't make a choice to prioritize other aspects of my life I might just burn out."

He's been doing quite well from Syracuse. He has had recurring roles in "Treme," a HBO series set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and "Law & Order," a police and legal drama TV series, among other productions. He is about to play Eliot Ness in Season 5 of "Boardwalk Empire," a HBO drama set in the Prohibition era.

In Syracuse True-Frost and his family have grown fond of walks at Green Lakes State Park, of skiing at Toggenburg Mountain, where they take Leo in the adaptive ski program, and of Doug's Fish Fry, in Skaneateles.

"We've made some good friends here," he said.

In the meantime, he'll pay close attention to Leo, to their two-year-old daughter, Phoebe, to Cora and the rest of the life in front of him. For actors, sometimes life shows up in their art.

A few years before he met Cora, she had taught middle school in Baltimore with Teach for America - a not-for-profit that recruits recent college graduates and professionals to teach in urban and rural communities. A decade later, the creators of "The Wire" had True-Frost's character teaching middle school in Baltimore.

"I'd already had a very clear introduction through her experiences," he said, of the challenges in urban classrooms. "She told me all about it. So it was kind of art imitating life."

Dave Tobin can be contacted at 470-3277, dtobin@syracuse.com or via Twitter: @dttobin