Well, sheeeeeeeeeit
By 
Throw another thing on the “boy 2025 really sucked huh” pile:
Isiah Whitlock Jr., a veteran character actor known for memorable roles in such series as The Wire, Veep, Your Honor and The Residence and a number of Spike Lee movies, died Tuesday in New York. He was 71.
His manager Brian Liebman told Deadline that Whitlock died peacefully after battling a short illness,
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock started his acting career by joining San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater after graduating from college.
His first notable screen role was a 1987 guest shot on CBS’ Cagney & Lacey. He worked steadily in television for the past 3½ decades doing dozens of guest appearances including the Law & Order franchise, with multiple episodes each on the mothership series, Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent.
Whitlock probably is best known for his role as corrupt State Sen. R. Clayton “Clay” Davis on HBO’s The Wire. He appeared on all five seasons of David Simon’s lauded crime drama, recurring in Seasons 1-4 before joining the main cast in Season 5.
He also recurred on HBO’s political comedy Veep as Secretary of Defense Gen. George Maddox and was a series regular on Showtime’s legal thriller drama Your Honor, playing a politician with connections to organized crime.
Whitlock’s last TV role was a series-regular turn as the Chief of Police opposite Uzo Aduba on Netflix’s White House murder mystery The Residence, which was premiered in March.
In features, Whitlock is known for his longstanding relationship with Lee, appearing in six of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s movies: 25th Hour (2002), She Hate Me (2004), Red Hook Summer (2012), Chi-Raq (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020).
A really wonderful character actor. There’s nothing better than seeing writing this good executed this perfectly:
This has been a particularly bad month for memorable actors from The Wire:
James Ransone, the actor known for playing Ziggy Sobotka in “The Wire” and Eddie Kaspbrak in “It: Chapter Two,” died by hanging on Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. He was 46.
Ransone appeared as the dock worker-turned-petty criminal, Chester “Ziggy” Sabotka, in 12 episodes of “The Wire” Season 2. Over the course of his arc, Ziggy was easily pushed around by other low-level criminals and his fellow cargo checkers. After being delivered one too many indignities, Ziggy snaps and takes out his partner in a fit of rage. Horrified at his actions, he waits for the police to arrive on the scene and confesses to the killings. His final appearance in the show is during the Season 2 finale, where he is seen carrying out his prison sentence.
Very sad to hear about both. R.I.P.