Isiah Whitlock Jr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Isiah Whitlock Jr.
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| Born | September 13, 1954 South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
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| Education | Southwest Minnesota State University (BA) American Conservatory Theater (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is famous for playing Senator Clay Davis in the TV show The Wire. He has also worked many times with director Spike Lee.
Isiah Whitlock Jr. has appeared in many movies like Goodfellas, Enchanted, Cars 3, and Lightyear. He has also been in TV shows such as The Good Cop, Veep, and Law & Order.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Isiah Whitlock Jr. was born in South Bend, Indiana. He went to college at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. He first went there on a football scholarship. He studied theater at the same time.
After some injuries, he stopped playing football. He then decided to focus completely on acting. He graduated in 1976 and moved to San Francisco. There, he joined the American Conservatory Theater to continue his acting studies.
Acting Career Highlights
Isiah Whitlock Jr. is best known for his role as the character Senator Clay Davis in the HBO TV series The Wire. His character was very popular on the show.
He has also worked with famous director Spike Lee on several films. These include 25th Hour, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman, and Da 5 Bloods.
Whitlock Jr. has appeared in other well-known TV shows too. He was on Chappelle's Show and played different characters in the Law & Order series. In movies, he played Eugene in Pieces of April (2003). He also had a small part in the movie Goodfellas. In 1408, he played a hotel engineer. He was also in the Disney movie Enchanted in 2007.
In the 2011 movie Cedar Rapids, he played an insurance agent named Ronald Wilkes. This character was a fan of The Wire and even did an impression of another character from that show. Whitlock Jr. has said that these references were in the script before he joined the movie.
He also had a recurring role as General George Maddox in the HBO comedy series Veep. More recently, he played the sheriff in the 2016 movie Pete's Dragon.
Southwest Minnesota State University now has a special scholarship named after him, called the Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship. He has also given speeches at the university.
Filmography
Film Roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Fireman | |
| 1990 | Goodfellas | Doctor | |
| 1996 | Eddie | Rick | |
| 1996 | Everyone Says I Love You | Cop | |
| 1997 | The Spanish Prisoner | Trooper | |
| 1999 | A Fish in the Bathtub | Rudy | |
| 1999 | Harlem Aria | Manny | |
| 2001 | Jump Tomorrow | George's Uncle | |
| 2002 | Driving Fish | Mason | Short film |
| 2002 | 25th Hour | Agent Flood | |
| 2003 | Pieces of April | Eugene | |
| 2003 | Bought & Sold | Mr. Stubbs | |
| 2004 | She Hate Me | Agent Amos Flood | |
| 2005 | Honey Trap | The Detective | Short film |
| 2005 | Duane Hopwood | William | |
| 2005 | Stealing Martin Lane | Harold "Chopper" Jones | |
| 2005 | Kettle of Fish | Freddie | |
| 2006 | Beautiful Ohio | Mr. Lebreaux | |
| 2007 | A Nick in Time | Old Bob Delagard | Short film |
| 2007 | 1408 | Hotel Engineer | |
| 2007 | The Man in My House | T.J. | Short film |
| 2007 | Enchanted | Ethan Banks | |
| 2008 | Choke | Detective Palmer | |
| 2008 | Cadillac Records | Mississippi DJ | |
| 2008 | The Thing We Know | Keith | Short film |
| 2009 | Brooklyn's Finest | Investigator #3 | |
| 2009 | I Hate Valentine's Day | Drummer | |
| 2009 | Under New Management | Rev. A.L. Blunton | |
| 2009 | Speed Grieving | Dr. Holder | Short film |
| 2010 | Twelve | Detective Dummont | |
| 2010 | Main Street | Mayor | |
| 2011 | Gun Hill Road | Officer Thompson | |
| 2011 | Cedar Rapids | Ronald Wilkes | |
| 2011 | Detachment | Mr. Mathias | |
| 2012 | Red Hook Summer | Detective Flood | |
| 2012 | Why Stop Now | Black | |
| 2012 | Thanks for Sharing | Charles | |
| 2012 | Not Fade Away | Landers | |
| 2013 | Newlyweeds | Philly | |
| 2013 | Europa Report | Dr. Tarik Pamuk | |
| 2013 | Home | Samuel | |
| 2013 | Jerome's Bouquet | Jack | Short film |
| 2014 | The Angriest Man in Brooklyn | Yates | |
| 2014 | 23 Blast | Dr. Connelly | |
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Bacchos | |
| 2016 | Pete's Dragon | Sheriff Gene Dentler | |
| 2017 | Person to Person | Buster | |
| 2017 | CHiPs | Peterson | |
| 2017 | Cars 3 | River Scott (voice) | |
| 2017 | Sloan Hearts Neckface | Lester | Short film |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Mr. Turrentine | |
| 2018 | All Square | Scotty | |
| 2018 | The Old Man & the Gun | Detective Gene Dentler | |
| 2019 | Corporate Animals | Derek | |
| 2019 | Lost Holiday | Matthews | |
| 2019 | Lying and Stealing | Lyman Wilkers | |
| 2019 | Run with the Hunted | Lester | |
| 2019 | Seneca | Michael | |
| 2020 | The Lost Husband | Russ McAllen | |
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Melvin | |
| 2020 | I Care a Lot | Judge Lomax | |
| 2022 | Lightyear | Commander Burnside (voice) | |
| 2023 | ... Bear | Bob |
Television Roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | A Christmas Carol | Second Charitable Gentleman / Party Guest | Television movie |
| 1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Man Getting a Cab | Episode: "The City is Burning" |
| 1987 | Ocean | The Moose | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 1993 | Alex Haley's Queen | Preacher | Miniseries; 1 episode |
| 1995 | Law & Order | Anthony White | Episode: "Guardian" |
| 1996 | Law & Order | Simon Brooks | Episode: "Trophy" |
| 1996 | Law & Order | Fred Oates | Episode: "Slave" |
| 1996 | New York Undercover | Chief Hardin | Episode: "Bad Blood" |
| 1997 | Liberty! The American Revolution | Luke (Slave) | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 1999 | Third Watch | Reggie Simmons | Episode: "Impulse" |
| 2000 | Law & Order | Fred Oakes | Episode: "Loco Parentis" |
| 2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Robbery Division Captain | Episode: "Limitations" |
| 2000 | Law & Order | Capt. Navarro | Episode: "Standoff" |
| 2000 | Wonderland | Reviewer | Episode: "20/20 Hundsight"; uncredited |
| 2000 | Madigan Men | Airport Guard | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Detective | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Todd Smythe | Episode: "Paranoia" |
| 2001 | WW 3 | Unknown | Television movie |
| 2001 | Ed | Tim Unger | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | NYPD Blue | Anton Emery | Episode: "Death by Cycle" |
| 2002-2008 | The Wire | State Sen. R. Clayton "Clay" Davis | Main; 22 episodes |
| 2003 | Chappelle's Show | Harold | Episode #1.8 |
| 2004 | Law & Order | Gordon Samuels | Episode: "Gunplay" |
| 2004 | The Jury | Abbott Truman | Episode: "Memories" |
| 2005 | Slavery and the Making of America | Minister/Petitioner | Episode: "Liberty in the Air" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | NTCC Representative | Episode: "Parts" |
| 2006 | Chappelle's Show | Store Manager | Episode #3.2; Uncredited |
| 2008 | New Amsterdam | Joe Williams | Episode: "Reclassified" |
| 2008 | Human Giant | Casting Director | Episode: "She Be a Witch" |
| 2009 | The Unusuals | Captain Leslie Morgan | Episode: "The Tape Delay" |
| 2010 | Meet the Browns | Sidney Graves | Episode: "Meet the Other Man" |
| 2010 | Rubicon | Mr. Roy | Recurring; 6 episodes |
| 2011 | Onion SportsDome | Wally Wright | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Onion SportsDome | Isiah Whitlock Jr. | Episode #1.10 |
| 2011 | Chaos | Warren | Episode: "Defending Sophia" |
| 2011 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | CSU Detective | Episode: "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap" |
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Ira Protopapas | Episode: "Get a Room" |
| 2012 | Smash | Ronal Strickland | 2 episodes |
| 2012-2015 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Captain Reece | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Louie | Alphonse | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Late Night with Jimmy Fallon | Trent | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Lucky 7 | Bob Harris | Main cast; 6 episodes |
| 2013–2015 | Veep | George Maddox | Recurring; 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Lucas Bros. Moving Co. | Mr. Dream (voice) | Episode: "Before & After Models" |
| 2014 | The Blacklist | Danny Moss | Episode: "Milton Bobbit (No. 135)" |
| 2014 | The Divide | Rev. Cheeks | Episode: "The Way Men Divide" |
| 2015 | Gotham | Gerry Lang | Episode: "Rogues' Gallery" |
| 2015 | The Carmichael Show | Reverend Carlson | Episode: "Prayer" |
| 2015 | Limitless | Lawrence Drake | Episode: "Headquarters!" |
| 2016 | Charity Case | Ronald | Television movie |
| 2016 | Lucifer | Carmen | Episode: "Wingman" |
| 2016, 2022 | Atlanta | Raleigh Marks | Episodes: "The Big Bang", "Light Skinned-ed" |
| 2016 | Jay & Pluto | Therapist | Unknown episodes |
| 2017 | Elementary | Jack Brunelle | Episode: "Over a Barrel" |
| 2017 | Son of Zorn | Robert | Episode: "The Quest for Craig" |
| 2017 | Survivor's Remorse | Samuel | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | The Mist | Gus Redman / Gus Bradley | Recurring; 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Thin Ice | Bill | Television movie |
| 2017 | She's Gotta Have It | Dog #10 | Episode: "#DaJumpoff (DOCTRINE)" |
| 2017 | Kevin Can Wait | Jerry | Episode: "Kevin Moves Metal" |
| 2018 | BoJack Horseman | C.E.O. (voice) | Episode: "Head in the Clouds" |
| 2018 | The Good Cop | Burl Loomis | 10 episodes |
| 2018 | Madam Secretary | Hervé Dupont | Episode: "The Courage to Continue" |
| 2019 | FBI | Richard Talmage | Episode: "Partners in Crime" |
| 2020 | Apple & Onion | Mayor Naise (voice) | Episode: "Election Day" |
| 2020–2023 | Your Honor | Charlie Figaro | 19 episodes |
| 2021 | History of Swear Words | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | The Kings of Napa | Reginald King | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2022 | Woke | Mr. Jackson | 2 episodes |
| TBA | The Residence | Larry Dokes |
Video Game Roles
| Year | Title | Voice role | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | The Local Population |
See also
In Spanish: Isiah Whitlock Jr. para niños
