Isiah Whitlock Jr., the instantly recognizable character actor best known for playing the corrupt (and endlessly quotable) state senator Clay Davis on The Wire, has died at the age of 71. Variety confirmed Whitlock’s passing on Tuesday in New York, while his manager, Brian Liebman, shared the news on Instagram, writing:
“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.”
Whitlock was one of Hollywood’s most dependable and charismatic character actors, the kind who could walk into a scene for five minutes and completely own it. Clay Davis made him a pop culture icon but it wasn’t the only character that audiences remembered.
Whitlock was a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, appearing in BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods, She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer, and Chi-Raq. Across those projects, he helped shape one of his most famous contributions to screen history: the now-legendary elongated delivery of the word “sheeeeee-it.”
And we know you’re all saying it to yourself right now. The catchphrase first appeared in She Hate Me and 25th Hour, before The Wire writers leaned into it fully, turning it into Clay Davis’ verbal calling card. Whitlock once said fans stopped him on the street two to three times a day asking him to say it.
What Other Projects Did Isiah Whitlock Jr. Appear In?
Beyond Baltimore politics and Spike Lee joints, Whitlock’s work popped up everywhere. He played a doctor in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, appeared on Chappelle’s Show, Pieces of April, and Enchanted, and lent his voice to Pixar projects including Cars 3 and Lightyear. He will also appear posthumously in Pixar’s animated sci-fi comedy Hoppers, due in 2026.
On television, Whitlock found a whole new audience as George Maddox, the blunt and self-assured U.S. Secretary of Defense on Veep, appearing throughout Seasons 2 through 4 as a political rival to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer during the 2016 primaries. Like Clay Davis, Maddox was another example of Whitlock’s specialty: powerful men whose confidence bordered on satire, delivered with impeccable timing.
His passing is a terrible shame for cinema and television, and his legacy will live on in the shows and films he brought to life. May he rest in peace, and for one last time, sheeeeee-it.
via Collider