Isiah Whitlock Jr., a longtime character actor best known for his role on The Wire, died in December 2025 at the age of 71. His manager, Brian Liebman, confirmed the news on Instagram, revealing that Whitlock passed away in a hospital.
“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,” Liebman wrote. “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.”
Learn more about him below.
Whitlock was born on September 13, 1954, in South Bend, Indiana, and grew up as one of multiple siblings before discovering his passion for performance.
Whitlock attended Southwest Minnesota State University on a football scholarship, but after an injury he shifted his focus to drama, graduating in 1976 and training at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco before launching a professional stage and screen career.
Whitlock’s first notable on-screen role came in 1987, when he appeared as a guest star on the CBS procedural Cagney & Lacey. He later rose to widespread recognition for portraying corrupt Maryland State Senator R. Clayton “Clay” Davis on The Wire. Whitlock played the role across all five seasons of the HBO series, cementing his reputation as a standout character actor and making Clay Davis one of the show’s most memorable figures.
