Isiah Whitlock Jr., Scene-Stealing Character Actor in ‘The Wire,’ Dies at 71

In one of his most enduring roles, he played a corrupt state senator known for his ability to fashion an expletive into an outstretched catchphrase.

Isiah Whitlock Jr., a character actor best known for his scene-stealing role as a smooth-talking, corrupt politician in the widely acclaimed HBO show “The Wire,” died on Tuesday. He was 71.

His manager, Brian Liebman, announced his death in a post on Instagram. In a statement, Mr. Liebman said Mr. Whitlock died at a hospital in New York City after a short illness.

On “The Wire,” a five-season series that examined the gritty underworld of corruption, drugs and the police in Baltimore, Mr. Whitlock played Clay Davis, a Maryland state senator known for his ability to fashion a four-letter expletive into a catchphrase fit for any political scenario.

As State Senator Davis, Mr. Whitlock transformed a side character into a commanding presence, earning a memorable role on a series many consider among the best shows in television history.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. was born on Sept. 13, 1954, in South Bend, Ind. He attended Southwest Minnesota State University on a football scholarship, but injuries halted his athletic career.

On a whim while at the university, he walked into the drama department during auditions for “The Crucible.” He was cast and, “from then on, was proverbially shot out of a cannon,” his website said.

After graduating, he attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His first notable role was as a guest star in the CBS procedural “Cagney & Lacey” in 1987.

He went on to have yearslong stints on various procedural crime shows, including “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”

Mr. Whitlock was also a frequent collaborator with the director Spike Lee. He starred in several movies for Mr. Lee dating to 2002, when he portrayed a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in “25th Hour.” He also had roles in “She Hate Me,” “Chi-Raq” and the Oscar-winning 2018 film “BlacKkKlansman.” He most recently portrayed a Vietnam War veteran in Mr. Lee’s 2020 film “Da 5 Bloods.”

Mr. Whitlock continued his portrayal of politics on television in the 2010s with a recurring spot on “Veep” as the defense secretary, George Maddox. He also played a corrupt New Orleans politician in the Showtime legal series “Your Honor,” which ran for two seasons.

His most recent role was in the 2025 Netflix series “The Residence,” where he played a police chief opposite Uzo Aduba.

But it was “The Wire,” which was created by David Simon and ran on HBO from 2002 to 2008, that gave him arguably his most indelible recurring role.

In 2008, The New York Times lauded Mr. Whitlock’s performance in the show’s final season, highlighting his portrayal of the corrupt senator as the potential role of a lifetime.

In one episode where his character is on trial for financial impropriety, Mr. Whitlock took the stand in his own defense and delivered a speech that swelled with a “mesmerizing, vaudevillian phoniness,” according to The Times.

“Had he done nothing else of any merit in the show’s previous seasons, he would have earned his Emmy then,” The Times article concluded.

For his part, Mr. Whitlock was proud that his legacy centered, in part, on his ability to draw a curse word into a three-beat musical phrase.

In a 2021 interview with The A.V. Club, he said his character’s famous catchphrase followed him around the world in the nearly 20 years since “The Wire” ended.

“But that’s just the effect that the show had on people,” he told The A.V. Club. “I was very happy about that. You say to yourself, ‘You know? I was part of something very, very good.’”

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