A look at Isiah Whitlock Jr’s most memorable films

Isiah Whitlock Jr, an actor who made frequent, memorable appearances on the HBO series The Wire and Veep and in five films with director Spike Lee, died on Tuesday. He was 71.

Whitlock’s manager, Brian Liebman, told The Associated Press in an email that the actor died in New York after a short illness. Davis, a fan-favourite character, was known for his profane catchphrase — “sheee-it” — delivered by Whitlock in moments of triumph and blunt honesty. The actor first used the phrase in his first film with Lee, 2002’s The 25th Hour, when his detective character discovers a cache of drugs hidden in a couch.

“It’s a big, big, big loss,” Lee said in a phone call with the AP on Tuesday night. “I’m going to miss him for the rest of my life.”

Whitlock went on to appear in four other Lee films, including 2004’s She Hate Me, 2012’s Red Hook Summer, 2015’s Chi-Raq, 2018’s BlacKkKlansman and 2020’s Da 5 Bloods.A native of South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock went to Southwest Minnesota State University, where he played football and studied theatre. Injuries pushed him to study acting, and he moved to San Francisco to work in theatre.

He began appearing in small television guest roles on shows, including Cagney and Lacy in the late 1980s, and he had very small roles in the 1990 films Goodfellas and Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

After The Wire, Whitlock moved on to another HBO show, the political satire Veep, where he played Secretary of Defence George Maddox for three seasons. The character ran against Julia Louis-Dreyfus′ Selina Meyer in presidential primaries.

The Wire creator David Simon also paid tribute to Whitlock in a post on Bluesky: “As fine an actor as he was,” Simon said, “Isiah was an even better spirit and the greatest gentleman.”

In celebration of his career, Bang Premier shared the star’s top five films.

5. She Hate Me (2004)

Whitlock appears in this provocative Spike Lee satire exploring race, capitalism, and sexual politics in corporate America. The film sparked controversy on release and remains one of Lee’s most divisive projects.

4. Cedar Rapids (2011)

Stepping into broad comedy, Whitlock plays a no-nonsense insurance executive in this offbeat Midwestern farce starring Ed Helms. His deadpan delivery adds bite to the film’s culture-clash humour.

3. Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Whitlock reunites with Spike Lee in this Vietnam War epic, which follows four veterans returning to recover buried treasure and confront their past. The film was praised for its political urgency and Delroy Lindo’s standout lead performance.

2. 25th Hour (2002)

In this post-9/11 New York drama, Whitlock delivers a quietly powerful supporting performance opposite Edward Norton. The film is often cited as one of the most emotionally resonant portraits of the city in the early 2000s.

1. BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Whitlock plays a senior police figure in Spike Lee’s incendiary true-story drama about an undercover investigation into the Ku Klux Klan. The film won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and became one of Lee’s most acclaimed works.