Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as corrupt state senator Clay Davis on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

television series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' as well as being a frequent collaborator of

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

. He has also appeared in films including '' Goodfellas'', '' Pieces of April'', '' 1408'', '' Enchanted'', ''

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

'', '' Pete’s Dragon'', ''

Cars 3 ''Cars 3'' is a 2017 American animated sports comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to '' Cars 2'' (2011) and the third film in the ''Cars'' franchise. It was directed by Brian Fe ...

'', '' The Old Man and the Gun'', '' All Square'', '' I Care a Lot'', and ''

Lightyear A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distance, astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by t ...

'' and television series including '' The Good Cop'', ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci. The series follows Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the fictional Vice Pres ...

'', ''

Chappelle's Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were ...

'', '' Your Honor'', and several roles across installments of the ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' franchise.

Early life

Whitlock was born on September 13, 1954, in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. He attended college at Southwest Minnesota State University in

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota ...

, where he enrolled through a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

and studied theater. Injuries led him to stop playing football and focus on acting. After graduating in 1976, he moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and joined the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

.Karin Elton
A perfect fit
''Marshall Independent'', February 11, 2011, accessed June 14, 2012.

Career

Whitlock is best known for his role on the

television series ''

'' as corrupt state senator Clay Davis. He has also appeared in the

films '' She Hate Me'', ''

25th Hour ''25th Hour'' is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Edward Norton. Adapted by David Benioff from his 2001 debut novel '' The 25th Hour'', it tells the story of a man's last 24 hours of freedom as he prepares to go to ...

'', '' Red Hook Summer'', ''

Chi-Raq ''Chi-Raq'' () is a 2015 American musical crime comedy drama film, directed and produced by Spike Lee and co-written by Lee and Kevin Willmott. Set in Chicago, the film focuses on the gang violence prevalent in neighborhoods on the city's sou ...

'', ''

BlacKkKlansman ''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical film, biographical Crime film, crime comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir ''Black K ...

'' and '' Da 5 Bloods''. In those projects, Whitlock established a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

from his character's distinct pronunciation of the word "shit" ("sheeeeeeeee-it"). Whitlock also made appearances on ''

'' and has made several appearances as various characters on ''

''. He appeared as Eugene, a supporting role, in the 2003 film '' Pieces of April''. He had a bit part in '' Goodfellas'' as a doctor who gives

Henry Hill Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testi ...

Valium while attending to his brother. He also made an appearance in the film '' 1408'', as the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

of the Dolphin Hotel, as well as appearing in promotional spots for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

video game ''

Punch-Out!! is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls Little Mac, a boxer who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion. The original '' Punch-Out!!'' arcade game w ...

'' portraying the character Doc Louis. In 2007, he played Ethan Banks in '' Enchanted''. Whitlock played an insurance agent named Ronald Wilkes in the 2011 film ''

''. Wilkes is a self-described fan of ''The Wire'' and does an impersonation of character

Omar Little Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO Crime fiction, crime drama TV series, series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore Stickup, stick-up man who frequently robs street-level Drug trafficking ...

. Whitlock has said that the references to the series were written in before he became involved in ''Cedar Rapids''. Whitlock filmed a separate promotion for the film, where Wilkes is seen in an insurance office reading lines from ''The Wire''., Fox Searchlight official channel via YouTube.com, February 7, 2011. He recurred on the

comedy series ''

'' as General George Maddox. Whitlock has also made appearances on ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'', '' Louie'', '' Gotham'', '' The Carmichael Show'', and '' Elementary''. He recently appeared as the sheriff in the 2016 remake of the 1977 film of '' Pete's Dragon''. SMSU now offers the Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship.Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship
, Southwest Minnesota State University Foundation, accessed June 14, 2012. He was SMSU's commencement speaker in 1999 and guest artist for the school's celebration of

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

in 2007. Capitalizing on his catch phrase " Sheeeeeeeee-it" and his public notoriety, Whitlock launched a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

Talking

Bobblehead A bobblehead, also known by nicknames such as nodder, wobbler, or wacky wobbler, is a type of small collectible figurine. Its head is often oversized compared to its body. Instead of a solid connection, its head is connected to the body by a ...

campaign. The campaign has raised over $100,000 from 1,828 backers.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * *
Isiah Whitlock Jr.
at the Internet Off-Broadway Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlock, Isiah Jr. 1954 births American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Living people Actors from South Bend, Indiana Southwest Minnesota State University alumni Male actors from Indiana 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors