Whitlock’s career spanned decades and included roles in many Spike Lee films
The American actor Isiah Whitlock Jr, who played a corrupt politician on HBO crime drama The Wire and had roles in numerous Spike Lee films, died at age 71 on Tuesday, his manager said.
“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,” Brian Liebman wrote on social media.
Whitlock delighted audiences as slimy politician Clay Davis on action-packed drama The Wire, based on former journalist David Simon’s gritty tales from the seedy underbelly of drug-trafficking and criminal politicking in Baltimore, Maryland.
Writers on the show leaned into his character’s catchphrase, a drawn-out pronunciation of “shit” that lasted several syllables – “sheeeee-it”.
