Hal Holbrook, the Tony and Emmy winner famed for his portrayal of Mark Twain, has died. He was 95.
The actor who portrayed Watergate informant Deep Throat in 1976’s “All the President’s Men” opposite Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford died on Jan. 23 in his Beverly Hills home, his assistant Joyce Cohen confirmed Monday.
Holbrook was nominated for an Oscar at 82 for his haunting performance in Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild.”
But he was perhaps best-known for his enduring portrayal of a seminal American literary figure.
The actor first played legendary author Mark Twain in a 1954 one-man show he developed while studying at Denison University in Ohio — and continued to play the Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer writer throughout his career.
He would go on to win Tony Award in 1966 for Broadway’s “Mark Twain Tonight!,” as well as five Emmys for his work on television.
In addition to film roles in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” and “The Firm” opposite Tom Cruise, he appeared in a host of acclaimed TV shows, including “The West Wing,” “The Sopranos” and “ER.”
He made history in 1972 in “The Certain Summer,” in which he played a divorced father visited by his teenage son, who is repulsed to discover his father is gay. Martin Sheen played Holbrook’s lover in this then taboo TV-movie.
He was preceded in death by his wife, “Designing Woman” star Dixie Carter, in 2010. He is survived by three children, two stepdaughters, two grandchildren and step-grandchildren.