Actor Isiah Whitlock of The Wire fame Jr passes away at 71

Isiah Whitlock Jr. Pic/AFP

Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr, mainly known for playing the corrupt state senator Clay Davis on The Wire, has passed away.

He breathed his last on Tuesday in New York at the age of 71, as per Variety.

The news of his demise was shared by his manager, Brian Liebman.

Taking to Instagram, he wrote, "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 even better person. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed."

Indiana-born Whitlock was a prolific character actor who was a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, appearing in his films BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods, She Hate Me, 25th Hour, Red Hook Summer and Chi-Raq.

Across many of his projects, he developed the catchphrase "sheeeeee-it", an elongated pronunciation of the word "shit". It started in "She Hate Me" and "25th Hour", and then the writers of The Wire began incorporating it into the HBO series. Whitlock said he could be stopped on the street two to three times per day by fans asking him to say the catchphrase. In a meta turn, Whitlock got to play a man obsessed with The Wire in the 2011 comedy "Cedar Rapids," as per Variety.

Whitlock also appeared as a doctor in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and held roles in Chappelle's Show, Pieces of April, and Enchanted. He lent his voice to Pixar's Cars 3 and Lightyear and most recently to Hoppers, the studio's animated sci-fi comedy scheduled for release in 2026.

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