Hal Holbrook, actor who channeled Mark Twain, dies at 95 He was the shadowy patriot Deep Throat in All the President s Men and an achingly grandfatherly character in Into the Wild, for which he received an Oscar nomination.
By Robert Berkvist New York Times February 2, 2021 8:08am Text size Copy shortlink:
Hal Holbrook, who carved out a substantial acting career in television and film but who achieved his widest acclaim onstage, embodying Mark Twain in all his craggy splendor and vinegary wit in a one-man show seen around the world, died Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 95.
His death was confirmed by his assistant, Joyce Cohen, on Monday night.
Hal Holbrook, who carved out a substantial acting career in television and film but who achieved his widest acclaim onstage, embodying Mark Twain in all his craggy splendour and vinegary wit in a one-man show seen around the world, died Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 95.
His death was confirmed by his assistant, Joyce Cohen, on Monday night.
Holbrook had a long and fruitful run as an actor. He was the shadowy patriot Deep Throat in “All the President’s Men” (1976); an achingly grandfatherly character in “Into the Wild” (2007), for which he received an Oscar nomination; and the influential Republican Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (2012).
“George Washington.”
“If you know more about me than I do, what do you ask me for?”
The patients stared straight ahead “No one was looking at us,” Hal Holbrook wrote and guffawed at the laugh lines, proving that “the guys in the ward were saner than they looked” and that the material had legs.
The Twain piece became their most popular sketch over the next four years, as the couple crisscrossed the country performing for schoolchildren, ladies’ clubs, college students and Rotarians.
Hal Holbrook began developing his one-man show in 1952, the year Ruby Holbrook gave birth to their first child, Victoria. He soon looked the part, with a wig to match Twain’s unruly mop, a walrus moustache and a rumpled white linen suit, the kind Twain himself wore onstage. From his grandfather, Holbrook got an old penknife, which he used to cut the ends off the three cigars he smoked during a performance (though he was not sure whether Twain ever smoked onstage). He sought out
Hal Holbrook, character actor noted for All the President’s Men and his Mark Twain one-man play – obituary
Of the Watergate source, Deep Throat, he reflected that he was ‘trapped . he would have to betray his president or betray the country’
2 February 2021 • 1:47pm
Holbrook portraying Mark Twain in Connecticut, August 1959
Credit: Robert W Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Hal Holbrook, the American character actor who has died aged 95, enjoyed a successful career in film, television and theatre embodying establishment figures, yet gained international renown playing a whistleblower.
In 1976 Holbook was at the end of a two-year stint, appearing as Abraham Lincoln in a highly rated TV mini-series, when he took the role of “Deep Throat” – the source who helped to bring down another President, Richard Nixon – in Alan J Pakula’s All the President’s Men.
Jan 28, 2021
James H. Collier, 88 resident of Easton, N.H., passed away on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, at the St. Johnsbury Nursing and Rehabilitation facility after a brief illness.
He was born in Williamsport, on Sept. 23, 1932, to the late Harold and Mary (Stetts) Collier. He was a graduate of Williamsport Senior High School in 1950. After graduating, Jim went to State Teachers College in East Stroudsburg, graduating with a B.S. in teaching. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army and taught Morse code at Fort Devens, Mass., and received an honorable discharge as a sergeant.
Jim met his wife, Barbara, while serving in the Army, and was married on April 6, 1956, and moved to Lunenburg, Mass. Jim taught first grade for one year, and then worked for Fitchburg Music Co. Jim found his calling when he started selling for Advanced Bearing & Supply Co. Jim was a district manager covering sales operations in Manchester, Dover, Berlin, N.H., and Millinocket, Maine.