Isiah Whitlock Jr: The Wire and Veep actor dies at 71

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete December 31, 2025 at 03:07 AM

Isiah Whitlock Jr: The Wire and Veep actor dies at 71

Read Original Article

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

Isiah Whitlock Jr., the actor best known for his roles in *The Wire* and *Veep*, has died at the age of 71 in New York after a short illness. Whitlock's manager confirmed the news, with Spike Lee, a frequent collaborator, also sharing a tribute. Whitlock was known for his distinctive delivery of a profane catchphrase on *The Wire*, which he said was based on his uncle. He played a corrupt politician in *The Wire* and a comical Secretary of Defense on *Veep*. Throughout his career, Whitlock appeared in six Spike Lee films, including *25th Hour* and *BlacKkKlansman*, as well as films like *Goodfellas* and *Cars 3*, and TV shows like *Law and Order*.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

HBO 30% Julia Louis-Dreyfus 40% New York 40% South Bend, Indiana 40% Veep ×260% The Wire ×370% Spike Lee ×370% Brian Liebman ×270% Isiah Whitlock Jr ×4100%

Keywords

isiah whitlock jr 100% death 90% actor 80% the wire 80% veep 70% spike lee 60% acting roles 60% catchphrase 50% corrupt politician 50% hollywood 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.70

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

South Bend, Indiana

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 2 related topics

View Full Graph

isiah whitlock jr death actor the wire veep spike lee acting roles catchphrase corrupt politician hollywood

Explore Full Topic Graph