Baby Boomers are no doubt acquainted with Hal Holbrook. They probably remember him best from his role as “Deep Throat” (later revealed to be the FBI’s deputy director, Mark Felt) in the 1976 film, Watergate. You know, the one that starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in their portrayals as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, respectively, back when the Washington Post was a real newspaper. And they were real journalists. At least Woodward arguably still is, despite an increasing overreliance on unverified anonymous sourcing, which is a big problem in “journalism” these days. But I digress.
Sadly, Holbrook passed away in late January. We were just told February 2nd. He was already interred with his late (third) wife, Dixie Carter, in Tennessee. He has a remarkable personal story captured best by the Times of London. Wikipedia’s page is very nicely detailed and linked, to a point (more below). As a young stage actor in college, I found him a role model and inspiration.
Aside from Watergate, Holbrook should also be remembered most fondly for his remarkable, long running (over 50 years) one-man stage show, Mark Twain Tonight. I have long wished to see him perform it in person. I will now have to settle for this YouTube channel of “best of” clips. He took an intense interest in Twain early in his acting career, resulting in a 1966 Tony Award. He was awarded by President George W. Bush for his stellar, historic portrayal.
Holbrook is most noteworthy to me for playing a United States Senator on two occasions, one of which oddly cannot be found on Wikipedia or any other obituary that I’ve found thus far: “Wild in the Streets,” a 1968 cult classic (see photo above, and yes, that is Richard Pryor) that is very much worth watching today. Holbrook, in his breakout film role (he first appeared in a forgettable movie in 1966), played a US Senator who advocated for reducing the voting age to 14 (today, we have Members of Congress openly advocating for reducing the age for registration to 16, so the movie may have been a bit prophetic. And in more ways than one). Holbrook would later play a Senator in an NBC miniseries, one Hays Stowe, in 1970. I don’t believe he ever won an Oscar, but he was nominated for one. But not until he was 82 for a supporting actor role in Sean Penn’s Into The Wild.
Holbrook’s approachable, disarming and attractive style, warm face, pleasant demeanor and charming, nasally midwestern twang was perfect for playing a Senator or especially a President. I don’t believe he was ever cast to play a President. He should have been. If he’d ever chosen to go into politics, he could have given Ronald Reagan a run for his money. But Holbrook was non-political, not entirely uncommon for his generation. He only briefly waded into politics late in life to criticize Republicans during Obama’s presidency. Nobody remembers that. Or cares. Meh.
So, rest in peace, Hal Holbrook. Age 95. A life well lived. Thank you for entertaining us so wonderfully over so many years.