It is with great sadness that ComingSoon.net must report (via Deadline) that veteran actor and stage performer Hal Holbrook has passed away at age 95.
Holbrook was best known for his one-man show Mark Twain Tonight! which he first performed as a college project in 1954, then on Broadway in 1966 (for which he won a Tony) and for TV in 1967 (for which he was nominated for an Emmy) and continued to stage this show about the title author until 2017.
On film he gave his most iconic performance as Watergate scandal whistleblower Deep Throat (later revealed as Mark Felt) in the 1976 classic All the President’s Men opposite Robert Redford. He made his film debut in Sidney Lumet’s The Group in 1966, and made his final film appearance in the 2015 Anthony Hopkins-led thriller Blackway.
Other notable film appearances include The Great White Hope (1970) opposite James Earl Jones, the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (1973) opposite Clint Eastwood, Wall Street (1987) opposite Michael Douglas, The Firm (1993) opposite Tom Cruise, as the voice of Amphitryon in Disney’s 1997 hit Hercules, The Majestic (2001) opposite Jim Carrey, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012) and in 2007’s Into the Wild opposite Emile Hirsch for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar at age 81. (We chatted with Holbrook for the latter film in 2007.)
Holbrook also appeared in several genre favs, including as the alcoholic priest in John Carpenter’s 1980 classic The Fog, the Canadian slasher flick Rituals (1977), Peter Hyams’ astronaut conspiracy thriller Capricorn One (1978), George Romero’s 1982 anthology Creepshow, 1982 slasher Girls Nite Out, and the 1988 religious horror flick The Unholy.
TV credits include the lead role in 1974 miniseries Lincoln, and again as Abraham Lincoln in 1986’s North and South: Book II, opposite Burt Reynolds on Evening Shade for 4 Seasons, as well as episodes of The West Wing, The Sopranos, ER, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy and his final screen performance on an episode of Hawaii Five-0 in 2017.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
