Isiah Whitlock Jr.

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 television series The Wire as well as being a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee.

Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Born	(1954-09-13) September 13, 1954 (age 70) South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Education	Southwest Minnesota State University (BA) American Conservatory Theater (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present

He has also appeared in films including Goodfellas, Pieces of April, 1408, Enchanted, Cedar Rapids, Pete’s Dragon, Cars 3, The Old Man and the Gun, All Square, I Care a Lot, and Lightyear and television series including The Good Cop, Veep, Chappelle's Show, Your Honor, and several roles across installments of the Law & Order franchise.

Early life

Whitlock was born in South Bend, Indiana. He attended college at Southwest Minnesota State University 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, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods. In those projects, Whitlock established a catchphrase from his character's distinct pronunciation of the word "shit" ("sheeeeeeeee-it").^{[3][failed verification]} Whitlock also made appearances on Chappelle's Show and has made several appearances as various characters on Law & Order. 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 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 recurred on the HBO comedy series Veep as General George Maddox. Whitlock has also made appearances on The Good Wife, 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.^[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] The campaign has raised over $100,000 from 1,828 backers.

Filmography

Film

Isiah Whitlock Jr.' film credits

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	Cocaine Bear	Bob

Television

Isiah Whitlock Jr.' television credits

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 games

Isiah Whitlock Jr.' video game credits

Year	Title	Voice role	Description
2013	Grand Theft Auto V	The Local Population

References

1. Isiah Whitlock Jr. Endowed Scholarship Archived March 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Southwest Minnesota State University Foundation, accessed June 14, 2012.
2. Karin Elton, A perfect fit, Marshall Independent, February 11, 2011, accessed June 14, 2012.
3. Swansburg, John (March 12, 2008). "The Wire Final Season: Week 10: How Sheee-it Started". Slate.com. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
4. Rich, Katey (February 10, 2011), "Interview: The Wire's Isiah Whitlock Jr. Plays Against Type In Cedar Rapids", CinemaBlend.com, retrieved February 21, 2011
5. CEDAR RAPIDS: Ronald vs. Omar from the Wire on YouTube, Fox Searchlight official channel via YouTube.com, February 7, 2011.
6. "Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Talking Bobblehead". Kickstarter. Retrieved December 25, 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Isiah Whitlock Jr. at IMDb
• Isiah Whitlock Jr. at the Internet Broadway Database
• Isiah Whitlock Jr. at the Internet Off-Broadway Database