Isiah Whitlock Jr., the American actor known for his work on The Wire and his collaborations with director Spike Lee, died this week at the age of 71. While Whitlock gained mainstream recognition for his role in The Wire as corrupt state senator Clay Davis — a character whose delivery of a certain expletive remains iconic — he cut his teeth in small parts in the ’80s and ’90s in series like Cagney & Lacey and Law & Order and in movies like Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Goodfellas. After playing Davis from 2002 to 2008, Whitlock Jr. would go on to recurring roles in The Good Wife, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Veep. He also dabbled in voice acting, with parts in movies like Cars 3 and Lightyear, as well as in series like BoJack Horseman. And while he co-starred in films like Pete’s Dragon, I Care a Lot, and The Lost Husband, his most consistent big-screen work over the course of his 40-plus-year career came from his partnership with Lee: She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman, and Da 5 Bloods. Learn more about Whitlock Jr.’s work and legacy below.
Whitlock Jr. portrays the reluctant chief of police Larry Dokes in this murder mystery series inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. When someone is killed at the White House during a state dinner, an eccentric detective, Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), is called in to consult on the case. But with 132 rooms to comb through and 157 suspects to question, the mystery only seems to grow more convoluted over the course of this eight-episode series. Giancarlo Esposito (Parish), Molly Griggs (Before I Go), Ken Marino (The Other Two), and Randall Park (Always Be My Maybe) also star.
Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston) is a respected judge in New Orleans — so when his son, Adam (Hunter Doohan), accidentally kills another teenager, he encourages him to tell the truth. But upon learning that the boy who was killed was the son of a prominent mobster, Desiato uses his power and influence to protect Adam, resulting in potentially deadly consequences. Whitlock Jr. also stars in this two-season drama as Charlie Figaro, Desiato’s best friend and a politician with connections to organized crime. Hope Davis (Asteroid City), Sofia Black-D’Elia (Viral), and Michael Stuhlbarg (Traitors) co-star.
Andy Breckman (Monk) created this comedy murder mystery about two police officers with opposite outlooks on how to do their jobs. They also happen to be father and son. Tony Caruso Sr. (Tony Danza) is a streetwise former officer who’s serving parole after a corruption charge, and his son, Tony Caruso Jr. (Josh Groban), is a by-the-book New York Police Department lieutenant who goes out of his way to keep his nose clean. After a murder potentially implicates Tony Sr., the pair work together to clear his name. Whitlock Jr. plays Burl Loomis, a veteran NYPD sergeant who’s on the verge of retirement and often goes to extreme lengths to get out of doing his job, much to Tony Jr.’s continued frustration. Monica Barbaro (FUBAR) also stars.
A squad of US soldiers who called themselves the Bloods were on the ground during the Vietnam War when they found a stash of gold bars in the jungle. The squad — Melvin (Whitlock Jr.), Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Norman (Chadwick Boseman) — hid the treasure and planned to return for it later, but Norman died in an ensuing gun fight. In the present day, the four surviving members of the Bloods return to Vietnam to find the gold and collect Norman’s remains. Jonathan Majors (Devotion), Johnny Trí Nguyễn (The Rebel), Mélanie Thierry (Connemara), Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird), Jasper Pääkkönen (BlacKkKlansman), and Jean Reno (Léon) co-star in this drama directed by Spike Lee (Highest 2 Lowest, Do the Right Thing).
