by James White |
02 02 2021
Hal Holbrook, an actor who graced screens big and small, and memorably played humourist Mark Twain for years on stage, has died. He was 95.
Born Harold Rowe Holbrook, Jr. in Cleveland in 1925, he had a troubled early life, his father either in jail or in mental institutions and his mother abandoning him as a baby. Raised by his paternal grandparents in Massachusetts, Holbrook was quickly packed off to boarding school and a military academy. Drama class became a sanctuary and during his time in the Army, he joined an amateur theatre club. After meeting his first wife, Ruby Johnston, in the club, the pair spent five tough years touring with a show about great personalities from history, including Mark Twain.