The Wire star Isiah Whitlock Jr. has died just days after another actor from the critically acclaimed series’ death was announced.
The American actor, 71, was best known for playing corrupt state senator Clay Davis across all five seasons of the HBO crime drama series, which ran from 2002 until 2008.
Deadline has reported that Whitlock Jr. ‘passed away peacefully’ today, December 30, in New York after battling a short illness.
The news was confirmed by his manager Brian Liebman who said he was a ‘brilliant actor and even better person’. ‘He was loved by all who had the pleasure to work with or know him. He will be greatly missed,’ he added.
He then shared the following on Instagram: ‘It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him – you loved him. A brilliant actor and even better person. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed.’
His death comes just days after it was announced that his former co-star James Ransone, who played Ziggy Sobotka in season 2 of the show had died by suicide aged 46.
HBO)
Born in South Bend, Indiana in 1952, Whitlock Jr. won a football scholarship to Southwest Minnesota State University, where he studied theatre.
However he turned his attention to acting full time after a string of injuries ended his football career.
After graduating in 1976, he then moved to San Francisco and joined the American Conservatory Theater.
Early film and TV roles came in A Christmas Carol, Law & Order, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Goodfellas.
However it was The Wire that would become his best-known screen credit.
After that series wrapped up, Whitlock Jr. would go on to feature in other TV series like New Amsterdam, The Good Wife, Veep, The Blacklist, Gotham, Lucifer, Atlanta, Elementary, BoJack Horseman and Your Honor.
Throughout his career, he also appeared in multiple episodes in the Law & Order franchise, including Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent.
Across many of his projects, the actor developed the catchphrase ‘sheeeeee-it’, which began in She Hate Me and 25th Hour, before being incorporated into The Wire by the writers on that show.
Whitlock Jr. once said he was regularly stopped several times a day by fans on the street asking him to say the catchphrase.
Earlier this year he also starred as Larry Dokes in the Netflix comedy drama The Residence, which saw him work alongside Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito and Randall Park.
Throughout the years the actor also worked closely with Spike Lee, appearing in his films She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods.
In recent years he also appeared in the films Lightyear, Cocaine Bear and the upcoming animated movie Hoppers.
He was also filming a project titled The Body is Water at the time of his death.
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