‘The Wire’ and ‘Veep’ Actor Was 71

Isiah Whitlock Jr., an actor best recognized for playing the corrupt state senator Clay Davis on “The Wire,” died on Tuesday in New York, Variety has confirmed. He was 71.

His supervisor, Brian Liebman, shared the news of his passing on Instagram, writing: “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, showing in his movies “BlacKkKlansman,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “She Hate Me,” “25th Hour,” “Red Hook Summer” and “Chi-Raq.”

Across many of his initiatives, he developed the catchphrase “sheeeeee-it,” an elongated pronunciation of the phrase “shit.” It began in “She Hate Me” and “25th Hour,” and then the writers of “The Wire” started incorporating it into the HBO sequence. Whitlock said he might be stopped on the avenue two to 3 occasions per day by followers asking him to say the catchphrase. In a meta flip, Whitlock obtained to play a person obsessive about “The Wire” in the 2011 comedy “Cedar Rapids.”

Whitlock also performed a doctor in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and had roles in “Chappelle’s Show,” “Pieces of April,” “Enchanted” and Pixar’s “Cars 3” and “Lightyear.” He also lent his voice to “Hoppers,” Pixar’s animated sci-fi comedy due in 2026.

In Seasons 2 via 4 of “Veep,” Whitlock performed George (*71*), the U.S. Secretary of Defense who runs against Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character Selina Meyer in the 2016 primaries.