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Hal Holbrook

Born 1925-02-17
Died 2021-01-23
📍 Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and writer. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show he developed, Mark Twain Tonight!, performing as Mark Twain, while studying at Denison University. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on television and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in film.

Holbrook made his film debut in Sidney Lumet's The Group (1966). He later gained international fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the President's Men. He played Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Lincoln and 1985 miniseries North and South. He also appeared in such films as Julia (1977), The Fog (1980), Creepshow (1982), Wall Street (1987), The Firm (1993), Hercules (1997), and Men of Honor (2000).

Holbrook's role as Ron Franz in Sean Penn's Into the Wild (2007) earned him both Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. In 2009, Holbrook received critical acclaim for his performance as recently retired farmer Abner Meecham in the independent film That Evening Sun. He also portrayed Francis Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012).

In 2003, Holbrook was honored with the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Hal Holbrook, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography 158

Interpreting Twain
as Self
2018
An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story
as Reinhold Niebuhr (voice)
2017
Blackway
as Whizzer
2015
Planes: Fire & Rescue
as Mayday (voice)
2014
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
as Self
2014
Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story
as Self
2013
Savannah
as Judge Harden
2013
Rectify
as Rutherford Gaines
2013
Monday Mornings
as Dr. Arvin Wayne
2013
Lincoln
as Preston Blair
2012
Promised Land
as Frank Yates
2012
Water for Elephants
as Old Jacob
2011
Good Day for It
as Hec
2011
The Event
as James Dempsey (voice)
2010
The Event
as James Dempsey
2010
Hawaii Five-0
as Leonard Patterson
2010
Flying Lessons
as Harry Pleasant
2010
That Evening Sun
as Abner Meecham
2009
Killshot
as Papa
2008
Sons of Anarchy
as Nate Madock
2008
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
as Self
2008
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
as Self
2008
The Business End: Violence in Cinema
as Self
2008
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
as Self
2008
Into the Wild
as Ronald "Ron" Franz
2007
Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
Bones
as Red Hudmore
2005
The Seventh Day
as Host
2005
Grey's Anatomy
as Lewis Clatch
2005
Butch Cassidy and the Outlaw Trail
as Narrator
2003
Hope & Faith
as Edward Shanowski
2003
NCIS
as Mickey Stokes
2003
The Designing Women Reunion
2003
Shade
as The Professor
2003
Good Morning, Miami
as Jim Templeton
2002
Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
as Narrator (voice)
2002
Purpose
as Tom Walker
2002
Mark Twain
as Self (uncredited)
2002
Mark Twain
as self
2002
The Majestic
as Congressman Doyle
2001
Dirty Harry: The Original
as Self - Actor
2001
The Legend of the Three Trees
as Narrator
2001
Haven
as Harold L. Ickes
2001
Founding Fathers
as Benjamin Franklin (voice)
2000
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
as Ak - Master Woodsman of the World (voice)
2000
Men of Honor
as 'Mr. Pappy'
2000
Waking the Dead
as Isaac Green
2000
Battleships
as Narrator
1999
The Bachelor
as O'Dell
1999
The West Wing
as Albie Duncan
1999
Family Law
as Judge Richard Lloyd
1999
The Florentine
as Smitty
1999
Lost in Middle America (and What Happened Next)
as Narrator
1999
The Sopranos
as John Schwinn
1999
Becker
as Mr. Humphries
1998
Rusty: A Dog's Tale
as Boyd Callahan
1998
Judas Kiss
as Senator Rupert Hornbeck
1998
My Own Country
as Lloyd Flanders
1998
Walking to the Waterline
as Man on the Beach
1998
Hush
as Dr. Franklin Hill
1998
Beauty
as Alexander Miller
1998
The Third Twin
as Pete
1997
Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
as Narrator (voice)
1997
Eye of God
as Sheriff Rogers
1997
All the Winters that Have Been
as Uncle Ren Corvin
1997
Trail of Hope
as Narrator
1997
Hercules
as Amphitryon (voice)
1997
Cats Don't Dance
as Cranston (voice)
1997
Operation Delta Force
as Admiral Henshaw
1997
The Battle of The Alamo
as Voice
1996
Carried Away
as Doctor Evans
1996
Innocent Victims
as Bob Hennis
1996
Stormchasers
as Narrator
1995
She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal
as Adm. Kelso
1995
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
as Wild Bill McKenzie
1995
The Outer Limits
as Justice Oliver Harbison
1995
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
as Wild Bill McKenzie
1994
ER
as Walter Perkins
1994
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
as William McKenzie
1994
The Firm
as Oliver Lambert
1993
Bonds of Love
as Jim Smith
1993
Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
as Narrator (voice)
1992
Evening Shade
as Evan Evans
1990
A Killing in a Small Town
as Dr. Beardsley
1990
Sorry, Wrong Number
as Jim Coltrane
1989
Day One
as Gen. George Marshall
1989
Fletch Lives
as Hamilton "Ham" Johnson
1989
I'll Be Home for Christmas
as Joseph Bundy
1988
Emma: Queen of the South Seas
as Jonas Coe
1988
American Experience
as Narrator (voice)
1988
The Unholy
as Archbishop Mosely
1988
The Fortunate Pilgrim
as Dr. Andrew McKay
1988
Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel
as Self
1988
Wall Street
as Lou Mannheim
1987
Plaza Suite
as Sam Nash
1987
Designing Women
as Reese Watson
1986
Dress Gray
as Gen. Charles Hedges
1986
Under Siege
as President Maxwell Monroe
1986
92 Grosvenor Street
1985
North and South
as Abraham Lincoln
1985
The Three Wishes of Billy Grier
as Grandpa Grier
1984
George Washington
as John Adams
1984
Celebrity
as Calvin Sledge
1984
The Star Chamber
as Benjamin Caulfield
1983
Creepshow
as Henry Northrup (segment "The Crate")
1982
Girls Nite Out
as Jim MacVey
1982
The Killing of Randy Webster
as John Webster
1981
The Kidnapping of the President
as President Adam Scott
1980
Off the Minnesota Strip
as Bud Johansen
1980
The Fog
as Father Malone
1980
Natural Enemies
as Paul Steward
1979
When Hell Was in Session
as Cmdr. Jeremiah A. Denton
1979
The Legend of the Golden Gun
as J.R. Swackhammer
1979
Murder by Natural Causes
as Arthur Sinclair
1979
Tartuffe
as Self - Host
1978
The Awakening Land
as Portius Wheeler - The Solitary
1978
Capricorn One
as Dr. James Kelloway
1977
Julia
as Alan
1977
Rituals
as Harry
1977
Our Town
as Stage manager
1977
Midway
as Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort
1976
All the President's Men
as Deep Throat
1976
The Time of Your Life
as Self - Host
1976
Saturday Night Live
as Self (uncredited)
1975
The Girl from Petrovka
as Joe
1974
Dinah!
as Self
1974
Lincoln
as Abraham Lincoln
1974
Magnum Force
as Lieutenant Briggs
1973
The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today
as Self
1973
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
as Elder (voice)
1973
Pueblo
as Capt. Lloyd Bucher
1973
They Only Kill Their Masters
as Dr. Warren G. Watkins
1972
That Certain Summer
as Doug Salter
1972
Goodbye, Raggedy Ann
as Harlan Webb
1971
Suddenly Single
as Larry Hackett
1971
Great Performances
as Self - Host
1971
The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
as Mitch Collins
1970
The Great White Hope
as Cameron
1970
The Bold Ones: The Senator
as Senator Hays Stowe
1970
The People Next Door
as David Hoffman
1970
A Clear and Present Danger
as Hays Stowe
1970
The Whole World Is Watching
as Chancellor Graham
1969
The Brotherhood
as Man at the Table (uncredited)
1968
The Name of the Game
as John Adrian
1968
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest
1968
Wild in the Streets
as Senator Fergus
1968
Mark Twain Tonight!
as Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
1967
The Glass Menagerie
as her son
1966
The Group
as Gus Leroy
1966
The F.B.I.
as Christopher Simes
1965
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
1961
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
1956
The Wonderful World of Disney
as Mitch Collins
1954
The Oscars
as Self
1953
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948