Hal Holbrook, who carved out a substantial acting career in television and film but who achieved his widest acclaim onstage, embodying Mark Twain in all his craggy splendour and vinegary wit in a one-man show seen around the world, died Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 95.
His death was confirmed by his assistant, Joyce Cohen, on Monday night.
Holbrook had a long and fruitful run as an actor. He was the shadowy patriot Deep Throat in “All the President’s Men” (1976); an achingly grandfatherly character in “Into the Wild” (2007), for which he received an Oscar nomination; and the influential Republican Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (2012).
“George Washington.”
“If you know more about me than I do, what do you ask me for?”
The patients stared straight ahead “No one was looking at us,” Hal Holbrook wrote and guffawed at the laugh lines, proving that “the guys in the ward were saner than they looked” and that the material had legs.
The Twain piece became their most popular sketch over the next four years, as the couple crisscrossed the country performing for schoolchildren, ladies’ clubs, college students and Rotarians.
Hal Holbrook began developing his one-man show in 1952, the year Ruby Holbrook gave birth to their first child, Victoria. He soon looked the part, with a wig to match Twain’s unruly mop, a walrus moustache and a rumpled white linen suit, the kind Twain himself wore onstage. From his grandfather, Holbrook got an old penknife, which he used to cut the ends off the three cigars he smoked during a performance (though he was not sure whether Twain ever smoked onstage). He sought out
FILE - Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter arrive at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) FILE - Actor Hal Holbrook appears during an interview in his New York apartment on Feb. 8, 1973. Holbrook died on Jan. 23 in Beverly Hills, California, his representative, Steve Rohr, told The Associated Press Tuesday. He was 95. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey, File)
FILE - Hal Holbrook greets patrons in stage make-up following his one-man performance of Mark Twain Tonight at the University of Texas at Tyler, Texas on Jan. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman, File)
Tuesday, February 2nd 2021, 3:28 pm
By: CBS News, Associated Press
Hal Holbrook, the award-winning character actor who toured the world for more than 50 years as Mark Twain in a one-man show and uttered the immortal advice Follow the money in the classic political thriller All the President s Men, has died. He was 95.
Holbrook died on January 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, his publicist, Steve Rohr, told CBS News on Tuesday.
Actors across the spectrum mourned Holbrook s passing, including Bradley Whitford, who called him an incredible actor, and Viola Davis, who wrote RIP to the always wonderful Hal Holbrook.
Holbrook pursued a busy career in theater, television and movies, winning five Emmys and a Tony. His more than two dozen film credits ranged from Steven Spielberg s Lincoln to Oliver Stone s Wall Street. He was a steady presence on TV as well, having appeared on such shows as The West Wing, Grey s Anatomy and Bones.