Hal Holbrook obituary: All the President’s Men and Into the Wild star dies aged 95

Hal Holbrook, one of American’s most prolific character actors of the past several decades, has passed away at the grand age of 95.

His assistant told the New York Times that the five-time Emmy winner had died on January 23.

Born in 1925, Holbrook started acting at the age of 17 when he performed in the popular farce The Man Who Came to Dinner at Cleveland’s Cain Park Theatre.

After serving in the army during World War II, he made his on-screen debut in the CBS soap opera The Brighter Day (1954-59). The 1950s also saw him perform his first one-man show as legendary American writer Mark Twain.

He would re-enact his portrayal on television and in theatres internationally, and also for former President Eisenhower and in an international tour sponsored by the US State Department. The role won him a Tony award and the first of twelve Emmy nominations.

He continued with his Twain act until his early 90s, playing on Broadway and notching up more than 2,200 performances in venues across the country.

Holbrook’s screen career soon took off in the 1970s starting with his role in The Great White Hope (1970). The following year, he landed his first Emmy win for his portrayal of Senator Hays Stowe in the political series The Bold Ones: The Senator (1970-71).

After another acclaimed role in the drama That Certain Summer (1972), he then scored two more Emmys (Best Lead Actor in a Drama and Actor of the Year) for his performance as Captain Lloyd Bucher in the war drama Pueblo (1973).

In 1976, Holbrook won his fourth Emmy for portraying American president Abraham Lincoln in the historical series Lincoln.

That same year saw him produce his most memorable film outing as Deep Throat, a mysterious man who leaked vital evidence about the Watergate Scandal to crusading journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward in the Oscar-winning thriller All the President’s Men.

Holbrook continued to chalk up appearances in various films like Magnum Force (1973), Battle of Midway (1976), Julia (1977), The Fog (1980) and Wall Street (1987). His television credits were just as impressive with key roles in The Awakening Land (1978) and George Washington (1984) plus reprising his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in North and South (1985) and its sequel Book II (1986).

Into his 60s, he played the long-suffering father-in-law of Burt Reynolds in the sitcom Evening Shade (1990-94) and also popped up as corrupted firm boss Oliver Lambert in The Firm (1993).

Having provided the voice of Hercules’s adopted father Amphitryon in the Disney animation Hercules (1997), he would go to make memorable appearances as Assistant Secretary of State Albie Duncan in two episodes of The West Wing (2001-02) and as John Schwinn in The Sopranos (2006).

Holbrook then made history in 2008 when (at the time) he became the oldest male performer to be Oscar-nominated for his supporting turn as kindly man Ron Franz in the factual drama Into the Wild (2007).

Towards the end of his life, he popped up in films like Water for Elephants (2011), Lincoln (2012) and Promised Land (2012) as well as playing Gemma Teller’s dad in five episodes of Sons of Anarchy (2010-14).

Holbrook is survived by his three children and two stepdaughters, as well as two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

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