Isiah Whitlock Jr., best known to TV audiences for playing Clay Davis on HBO’s “The Wire,” has died at the age of 71.
Whitlock passed away on Tuesday, Variety reports, with his manager Brian Liebman sharing 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.” (No cause of death has been officially released.)
Whitlock had small roles in films like “Goodfellas” and TV shows like “Law & Order” before taking on the role of bribe-taking state senator Clay Davis on the HBO crime drama “The Wire,” which debuted in 2002. Clay Davis was a key character throughout the show’s five-season run, with Whitlock’s elongated delivery of the curse word “sh*********t” becoming a trademark.
He later played Secretary of Defense George Maddox on the HBO comedy “Veep” and Earn’s dad Raleigh on FX’s “Atlanta.” In 2020, he began playing another politician, Charlie Figaro, opposite Bryan Cranston on the Showtime drama “Your Honor.”
Whitlock is also known for his frequent collaborations with filmmaker Spike Lee, from 2002’s “25th Hour” to 2020’s “Da 5 Bloods.” Earlier this year, he played police chief Larry Dokes in the Netflix murder mystery “The Residence.”