Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. Dead At 71

Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., best known for roles on The Wire, Veep, Your Honor and The Residence, has died at the age of 71, his manager, Brian Liebman, confirmed in a post shared on Instagram Tuesday (December 30).

"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," Liebman wrote.

Liebman also confirmed to Deadline that Whitlock had died peacefully following a battle with a short illness.

Whitlock was credited with more than 120 roles, many of which were television credits, as well as several films directed by Spike Lee, according to his IMDb page. The actor's early credits include the CBS television drama Cagney & Lacey in 1987 and the film Goodfellas and 1990.

Whitlock later appeared as Senator Clayton 'Clay' Davis in all five seasons of the HBO crime drama, The Wire, initially as a recurring character that eventually became a main role in Season Five. The actor later appeared as Secretary of Defense George Maddox on the HBO comedy series Veep and as a corrupt politician on the Showtime drama Your Honor, with his last role coming in the March episode of the Netflix miniseries The Residence, as well as upcoming roles in The Body is Water and Hoppers, according to his IMDb page.

Whitlock's death was reported days after James Ransome, who also appeared in 12 episodes of The Wire, died at the age of 46.