Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor of the American television series “The Wire”, died this Tuesday (31), aged 71, in New York.
The actor’s manager, Brian Liebman, told CNN that he “passed away peacefully today in New York after a courageous battle with a brief illness.”
“Isiah was a brilliant actor and an even better person,” Liebman concluded.
Whitlock had a memorable career that spanned more than three decades in both television and film. He starred in several Spike Lee films, including “Blood Detachment,” “Klansman” and “The Last Night.”
He began his television career on “Cagney & Lacey” in the 1980s and continued to appear frequently on crime series, from “Law & Order” to “NYPD Blue.” More recently on TV, Whitlock played a police chief in “The Residence,” a Netflix murder thriller starring Uzo Aduba.
Whitlock is best remembered for his unforgettable role on “The Wire,” the HBO crime drama created by David Simon, widely recognized as one of the best series of all time.
He participated in all five seasons of the series as R. Clayton “Clay” Davis, a corrupt senator from the state of Maryland, becoming known for his peculiar reaction to events, creating a catchphrase that became common in the American vocabulary.
Whitlock loved the attention his pronunciation received. “I was, I think, in Grand Central Station, and in the distance I heard someone say this and they were kind of smiling,” he told an interviewer in 2008.
“I’m glad people like it,” he said.
In 2014, he launched a YouTube series teaching people how to pronounce the expression perfectly. Whitlock said he learned the phrase from his late uncle Leon, who pronounced it in a way that always made people laugh.
Whitlock said he learned the expression from his late uncle Leon, who pronounced it in a way that always made people laugh.
The actor also had a recurring role on “Veep”, playing General George Maddox, a secretary of defense who is considering running in the primaries against Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Whitlock grew up in Indiana, the fifth of ten children, and studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco before moving to New York, where he lived for decades.
“He was loved by everyone who had the pleasure of working with him or knowing him […] We will miss you very much.”, said his agent.
