Hal Holbrook, Prolific Actor Who Played “Deep Throat” in “All the President’s Men”, Dies at 95

Hal Holbrook, the award-winning actor who has toured the world for over 50 years as Mark Twain in a one man show and delivered the immortal advice “Follow the Money” in the classic political thriller “All Men. of the president ”, died. He was 95 years old.

Holbrook died Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., Reporter Steve Rohr told CBS News on Tuesday.

Actors across the spectrum mourned Holbrook’s passing, including Bradley Whitford, who called him an “incredible actor”, and Viola Davis, WHO wrote “RIP to the always wonderful Hal Holbrook.”

Holbrook pursued a fulfilling career in theater, television, and film, winning five Emmys and one Tony. His over two dozen film credits ranged from Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” to Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street”. He was also present on television, having appeared on shows such as “The West Wing”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Bones”.

But his most famous film role was a key source for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) in the 1976 adaptation of “All the President’s Men,” the hit tale of Woodward and his Post colleague Carl Bernstein on their investigation into The Richard Nixon administration and the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation.

Holbrook played the mysterious “Deep Throat” informant (later revealed to be an FBI official Mark Felt) who provided key information to Woodward. The most famous advice, spoken from the shadow of a parking lot – “Follow the money” – became an instant slogan but was never said in real life. The line was invented by screenwriter William Goldman.

“Follow the money” may have been his most famous words in the film, but Twain was his defining role. The association began in 1954 when an instructor from Denison University in Ohio assigned Holbrook the role on a thesis assignment.

Holbrook and his first wife, Ruby Johnson, went on to create a two-person show, playing characters from Shakespeare to Twain. After the birth of their daughter, Victoria, he began working on a solo show for Twain while working on the soap opera “The Brighter Day”.

Holbrook, raised in Cleveland, was 29 when he first performed as Twain (who was portrayed as 70) and eventually developed the role in a two-act solo show called “Mark Twain Tonight !,” taking it to schools, nightclubs and theaters. He took him to Broadway three times – 1966, 1977, and 2005 – and won a Tony Award for Best Dramatic Actor for the 1966 version.

“The truth is he’s been a wonderful company,” Holbrook told The Plain Dealer in 2017. “It would be an understatement to say that I love him. He never ceases to amaze me. Even after all of this. years, I’m still stunned. by his insight into the human character. Much of what he had to say over 100 years ago is just about the money for today. “

In 1959, after years of perfecting his material in small towns, Holbrook made his debut with his Twain in an off-Broadway theater in New York City with critical acclaim. “Mr. Holbrook’s material is outrageous, his ability to hold an audience while playing is brilliant,” the New York Times said. The New Yorker called it a “dazzling display of virtuosity.”

Holbrook toured as Twain – in the writer’s familiar white suit and white hair – whenever he wasn’t busy with other acting jobs. He would update the show to fit the times and performed the role on his own account approximately 2,200 times. He hung up the white suit in 2017.

“He’s done a ton of work over the years, never less than top notch, but Twain’s performances have approached perfection, and they will stay with me forever,” tweeted Michael McKean.

He was meticulous in his preparations, taking up to 3.5 hours to put on makeup and insisting on oversized stage furniture so that at 6 feet tall he didn’t look taller than 5 feet 8 1/2. -inch Twain was. He read books by and about the author and perused journal files for interviews with Twain and stories from his speaking tours.

During a performance on the open stage at Wolf Trap near Vienna, Virginia, lightning erupted and thunder erupted just as Holbrook walked over to the cigar humidor for a cigar. He stepped back. A burst of laughter followed. Holbrook looked at the audience over his glasses. When he could be heard again, he spoke, “He was not speaking to you.”

Over the years, Holbrook has taken on “Mark Twain Tonight!” to many foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia. His audience included Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Carter.

When not representing Twain, Holbrook displayed impressive versatility. He was Burt Reynolds’ crotchety stepfather in the 1990s’ Evening Shade ‘television series. He appeared as Abraham Lincoln in two different mini-series on the 16th President and won one of his Emmys for the role. -title in the 1970-71 television series “The Senator”.

Other notable scene credits include “After the Fall”, “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” and “I Never Sang for My Father”. In 2008, at age 82, he received his first Oscar nomination for playing a lonely widower who befriends young traveler Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) in director Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild”.

In 1980 he met actress Dixie Carter when the two starred in the TV movie “The Killing of Randy Webster”. Although attracted to each other, each had suffered two failed marriages and they were suspicious at first. They finally married in 1984, two years before Carter landed the role of Julia Sugarbaker in the long-running “Designing Women” television series. Holbrook appeared on the show regularly in the late 1980s as her boyfriend, Reese Watson. She died in 2010.

Holbrook had two children, Victoria and David, with his first wife, and a daughter, Evie, from his second marriage to actress Carol Rossen. He was the stepfather of Mary Dixie Carter and Ginna Carter.