Hal Holbrook 1925 - 2021

 Actor Hal Holbrook has passed away at 95. 

 

Born Harold Rowe Holbrook in Cleveland in 1925, Holbrook’s career spanned five decades on the big and small screen and the stage. His career began during his time at Denison University, where an honors project about famed author Mark Twain led him to create a one-man show called Mark Twain Tonight; a production that he would perform for decades including a run on television. 

 

His feature film debut would be in 1966 in THE GROUP, but it was his part as the boss of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in MAGNUM FORCE (1972), that would elevate his name. He would continue to work in TV and the stage, and in 1976 would chill audiences to the bone with his mysterious role as the real-life Deep Throat in the classic political drama, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. 

 

Over the years he would appear in notable films such as MIDWAY (1976), CAPRICORN ONE (1977), THE FOG (1980), CREEPSHOW (1982), WALL STREET (1987), Disney’s HERCULES (1987), FLETCH LIVES (1989), THE FIRM (1993), MEN OF HONOR (2000), and Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN (2012). He would be nominated for an Oscar in 2007 at the age of 82 for his part in Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD. 

 

Other notable television credits included NORTH AND SOUTH (1985), THE WEST WING (2001), BECKER (2002), THE SOPRANOS (2006), ER (2008), SONS OF ANARCHY (2010, 2014), BONES (2017), and HAWAII 5-0 (2017). 

 

He would end his career with five Primetime Emmy Awards and one Tony Award. 

 

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Hal Holbrook was one of those actors who instantly made every film he appeared in a little bit better. From his mysterious role in ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN to his heartbreaking part in INTO THE WILD, he made his characters human and relatable while maintaining the needed dramatic effect. He was certainly wasn’t shy to take on genre films, appearing in sci-fi/horror such as John Carpenter’s THE FOG and providing the voice of the father of Hercules for Disney. He stepped from those genre entries into drama with ease, and that is the mark of any great actor. His most notable accomplishment came with his Oscar nomination for INTO THE WILD, not just because he was great in the film, but because he was 82 years young at the time. If movies are meant to inspire, then Holbrook’s honor should always be listed at the top…we’re never too old to do anything.