Los Angeles, Dec 31 (.) Isiah Whitlock Jr., the acclaimed actor best known for his role as the corrupt state senator ‘Clay Davis’ on ‘The Wire’, has passed away at the age of 71 in New York, Variety has confirmed.
His manager, Brian Liebman, shared the news on Instagram, writing, “It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him, you loved him. A brilliant actor and an even better person. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed.”
Born in Indiana, Whitlock was a prolific character actor and a frequent collaborator with Spike Lee, appearing in films including BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods, She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer, and Chi-Raq.
Filmmaker Spike Lee has paid tribute to his longtime collaborator Isiah Whitlock Jr., who passed away on Tuesday in New York at the age of 71.
Sharing a photo of himself with Whitlock on Instagram, Lee wrote: “Today I Learned Of The Passing Of My Dear Beloved Brother ISIAH WHITLOCK. GOD BLESS.”
Whitlock became widely recognized for his iconic catchphrase, “sheeeeee-it,” an elongated pronunciation of “shit.” The phrase first appeared in She Hate Me and 25th Hour, and was later incorporated into ‘The Wire’, becoming a signature of his character Clay Davis.
Whitlock recalled being stopped by fans multiple times a day to repeat the line and even played a meta role as a man obsessed with The Wire in the 2011 comedy Cedar Rapids.
His versatile career included roles in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, as well as appearances in Chappelle’s Show, Pieces of April, Enchanted, and Pixar films Cars 3 and Lightyear. He was also set to voice a character in Pixar’s upcoming animated sci-fi comedy Hoppers (2026).
On television, Whitlock played George Maddox, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, in Seasons 2 through 4 of Veep, where his character ran against Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer in the 2016 primaries.
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