Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Isiah Whitlock Jr. | |
---|---|
Born |
South Bend, Indiana, United States | September 13, 1954
Occupation | Actor |
Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor.
Early life
Whitlock was born in South Bend, Indiana. He attended college at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) in Marshall, Minnesota, where he enrolled through a football scholarship and studied theater. Injuries led him to stop playing football and focus on acting.[1] After graduating in 1976, he moved to San Francisco and joined the American Conservatory Theater.[2]
Career
Whitlock is best known for his role on the HBO television series The Wire as corrupt state senator Clay Davis. He has also appeared in the Spike Lee films She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer, and Chi-Raq. In those projects, Whitlock established a catchphrase from his characters' distinct pronunciation of the word "shit" ("sheeeeeeeee-it").[3] Whitlock also made appearances on Chappelle's Show and has made several appearances as various characters on Law & Order. He appeared as Eugine, a supporting role, in the 2003 film Pieces of April. He had a bit part in Goodfellas as a doctor who gives Henry Hill a Valium while attending to his brother. He also made an appearance in the film 1408, as the engineer of the Dolphin Hotel, as well as appearing in promotional spots for the Wii video game Punch-Out!! 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 Cedar Rapids. Wilkes is a self-described fan of The Wire and does an impersonation of character Omar Little. Whitlock has said that the references to the series were written in before he became involved in Cedar Rapids.[4] Whitlock filmed a separate promotion for the film, where Wilkes is seen in an insurance office reading lines from The Wire.[5] He currently recurs on the HBO comedy series Veep as General George Maddox. Whitlock has also made appearances on The Good Wife, Louie, Gotham, Chiraq, The Carmichael Show and Elementary. He recently appeared as the sheriff on the 2016 remake of 1977 film of Pete's Dragon.
SMSU now offers the Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship.[1] He was SMSU's commencement speaker in 1999 and guest artist for the school's celebration of Black History Month in 2007.[2]
Capitalizing on his catch phrase "Sheeeeeeeee-it" and his public notoriety, Whitlock launched a successful Kickstarter Talking Bobblehead campaign.[6] This campaign is the most successful bobblehead promotion in Kickstarter history. The campaign has raised over $100,000 from 1,828 backers.
Filmography
Film
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 |
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 |
2005 | Duane Hopwood | William | |
2005 | Stealing Martin Lane | Harold 'Chopper' Jones | |
2006 | Kettle of Fish | Freddie | |
2006 | Beautiful Ohio | Mr. Lebreaux | |
2007 | A Nick in Time | Old Bob Delagard | Short |
2007 | 1408 | Hotel Engineer | |
2007 | The Man in My House | T.J. | Short |
2007 | Enchanted | Ethan Banks | |
2008 | Choke | Detective Palmer | |
2008 | Cadillac Records | Mississippi DJ | |
2008 | The Thing We Know | Keith | Short |
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 |
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 |
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 Role |
2017 | Sloan Hearts Necklace | Lester | Short (Post-Production) |
2018 | Old Man and the Gun | TBA | Post-Production |
2018 | Last Holiday | Matthews | Post-Production |
2018 | All Square | Scotty | Filming |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | A Christmas Carol | Second Charitable Gentleman/Party Guest | Television Movie |
1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Unknown | 1 Episode: Season 7 'The City is Burning' |
1989 | Ocean | The Moose | Mini Series: 6 Episodes |
1993 | Queen | Pracher | Mini Series: 1 Episode |
1996 | New York Undercover | Chief Hardin | 1 Episode: Season 2 'Bad Blood' |
1997 | Liberty! The American Revolution | Luke (Slave) | Mini Series: 6 Episodes |
1999 | Third Watch | Reggie Simmons | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Impulse' |
2000 | Wonderland | Reviewer (Uncredited) | 1 Episode: Season 1 '20/20 Hundsight' |
2000 | Madigan Men | Airport Guard | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Pilot' |
2001 | WW 3 | Unknown | Television Movie |
2001 | Ed | Tim Unger | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2002 | NYPD Blue | Anton Emery | 1 Episode: Season 10 'Death by Cycle' |
2004 | The Jury | Abbott Truman | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Memories' |
1995 | Law & Order | Anthony White | 1 Episode: Season 5 'Guardian' |
1996 | Law & Order | Simon Brooks | 1 Episode: Season 6 'Trophy' |
1996 | Law & Order | Fred Oakes | 1 Episode: Season 6 'Slave' |
2000 | Law & Order | Fred Oakes | 1 Episode: Season 10 'Loco Parentis' |
2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Robbery Division Captain | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Limitations' |
2000 | Law & Order | Capt. Navarro | 1 Episode: Season 11 'Standoff' |
2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Detective | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Todd Smythe | 1 Episode: Season 2 'Paranoia' |
2003 | Chappelle's Show | Harold | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Episode #1.8' |
2004 | Law & Order | Gordon Samuels | 1 Episode: Season 15 'Gunplay' |
2005 | Slavery and the Making of America | Minister/Petitioner | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Liberty in the Air' |
2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | NTCC Representative | 1 Episode: Season 6 'Parts' |
2006 | Chappelle's Show | Store Manager (Uncredited) | 1 Episode: Season 3 'Episode #3.2' |
2002-2008 | The Wire | State Sen. R. Clayton 'Clay' Davis | Recurring: 25 Episodes (Season 1-5) |
2008 | New Amsterdam | Joe Williams | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Reclassified' |
2008 | Human Giant | Casting Director | 1 Episode: Season 2 'She Be a Witch' |
2009 | The Unusuals | Captain Leslie Morgan | 1 Episode: Season 1 'The Tape Delay' |
2010 | Meet the Browns | Sidney Graves | 1 Episode: Season 3 'Meet the Other Man' |
2010 | Rubicon | Mr. Roy | Recurring: 6 Episodes |
2011 | Onion SportsDome | Wally Wright | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2011 | Onion SportsDome | Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Himself) | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Episode #1.10' |
2011 | Chaos | Warren | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Defending Sophia' |
2011 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Crime Scene Detective | 1 Episode: Season 10 'To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap' |
2011 | The Good Wife | Ira Protopapas | 1 Episode: Season 3 'Get a Room' |
2012 | Smash | Ronal Strickland | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2012,2013,2015 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Captain Reece | Guest: 3 Episodes |
2013 | Louie | Alphonse | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2013 | Late Night with Jimmy Fallon | Trent | Guest: 2 Episodes |
2013 | Lucky 7 | Bob Harris | Main: 6 Episode (Season 1) |
2013-2015 | Veep | George Maddox | Recurring: 7 Episodes (Season 2-4) |
2014 | Lucas Bros Moving Co | Mr. Dream (Voice) | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Before & After Models' |
2014 | The Blacklist | Danny Moss | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Milton Bobbit (No. 135)' |
2014 | The Divide | Rev. Cheeks | 1 Episode: Season 1 'The Way Men Divide' |
2015 | Gotham | Gerry Lang | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Rogues' Gallery' |
2015 | The Carmichael Show | Reverend Carlson | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Prayer' |
2015 | Limitless | Lawrence Drake | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Headquaters!' |
2016 | Charity Case | Ronald | Television Movie |
2016 | Lucifer | Carmen | 1 Episode: Season 1 'Wingman' |
2016 | Atlanta | Raleigh Marks | 1 Episode: Season 1 'The Big Bang' |
2016 | Jay & Pluto | Therapist | Unknown Series |
2017 | Elementary | Jack Brunelle | 1 Episode: Season 5 'Over a Barrel' |
2017 | Son of Zorn | Robert | 1 Episode: Season 1 'The Quest for Craig' |
2017 | Survivor's Remorse | Samuel | 1 Episode: Season 4 'Fallout' |
2017 | The Mist | Gus Redman/Gus Bradley | Recurring |
2017 | Thin Ice | Bill | Television Movie |
Video Games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | The Local Population | Voice Role |
References
- 1 2 Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship, Southwest Minnesota State University Foundation, accessed June 14, 2012.
- 1 2 Karin Elton, A perfect fit, Marshall Independent, February 11, 2011, accessed June 14, 2012.
- ↑ Swansburg, John (March 12, 2008). "The Wire Final Season: Week 10: How Sheee-it Started". Slate.com. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
- ↑ Rich, Katey (February 10, 2011), "Interview: The Wire's Isiah Whitlock Jr. Plays Against Type In Cedar Rapids", CinemaBlend.com, retrieved February 21, 2011
- ↑ CEDAR RAPIDS: Ronald vs. Omar from the Wire on YouTube, Fox Searchlight official channel via YouTube.com, February 7, 2011.
- ↑ Isiah Whitlock Jr. Talking Bobblehead
External links
- Official website
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. on IMDb
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. at the Internet Broadway Database
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. at the Internet Off-Broadway Database