Isiah Whitlock Jr., finest identified for his function in HBO’s “The Wire” and frequent collaborations with director Spike Lee in movies comparable to “BlacKkKlansman” and “Da 5 Bloods,” has died. He was 71.
Whitlock’s supervisor, Brian Liebman, shared information of his shopper’s demise in an Instagram publish on Tuesday.
“It’s with great disappointment that I share the passing of my pricey buddy and shopper Isiah Whitlock Jr,” wrote Liebman within the caption alongside a photograph of the 2. “When you knew him, you liked him. A superb actor and even higher individual. Could his reminiscence eternally be a blessing. Our hearts are so damaged. He shall be very, very missed.”
Liebman advised Deadline that Whitlock died peacefully after a brief sickness.
Born in South Bend, Ind., Whitlock pursued performing after going through a sequence of soccer accidents at Southwest Minnesota State College. After graduating in 1976, he joined the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
Firstly of his profession, Whitlock picked up varied roles in procedurals and dramas together with varied iterations of the “Regulation & Order” franchise, notably “Regulation & Order: Particular Victims Unit” and “Regulation & Order: Prison Intent.”
The actor most famously left his mark on HBO’s “The Wire” because the corrupt Maryland State Sen. Clay Davis, whose iconic swearing, significantly his elongation of the phrase s—, is a memorable factor of the 60-episode crime drama.
On the massive display screen, Whitlock appeared in a number of Lee movies, together with “She Hate Me” (2004), “Chi-Raq” (2015), “BlacKkKlansman” (2018) and “Da 5 Bloods” (2020).
