Actor Isiah Witlock Jr. dead

Isiah Whitlock Jr., a veteran character actor known for memorable roles in such series as The Wire, Veep, Your Honor and The Residence and a number of Spike Lee movies, is d£ad.

He di£d Tuesday Dec. 30, in New York. He was 71.

His manager Brian Liebman said that Whitlock di£d peacefully after battling a short illness.

“Isiah was a brilliant actor and even better person,” Liebman told Deadline. “He was loved by all who had the pleasure to work with or know him. He will be greatly missed.”

His first notable screen role was a 1987 guest shot on CBS’ Cagney & Lacey. He worked steadily in television for the past 3½ decades doing dozens of guest appearances including the Law & Order franchise, with multiple episodes each on the mothership series, Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent.

Whitlock is probably best known for playing corrupt State Sen. R. Clayton “Clay” Davis on HBO’s The Wire. He appeared on all five seasons of David Simon’s lauded crime drama, recurring in Seasons 1-4 before joining the main cast in Season 5.

He also recurred on HBO’s political comedy Veep as Secretary of Defense Gen. George Maddox and was a series regular on Showtime’s legal thriller drama Your Honor, playing a politician with connections to organized crime.

Whitlock’s last TV role was a series-regular turn as the Chief of Police opposite Uzo Aduba on Netflix’s White House murder mystery The Residence, which premiered in March.

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