Award-winning actor Hal Halbrook dies aged 95

Hal Holbrook, an award-winning actor acclaimed for his one-man portrayal of American literary legend Mark Twain and whose film work included portraying the mysterious “Deep Throat” in “All the President’s Men,” has died at the age of 95, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Holbrook died on January 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, the New York Times reported. It said his death was confirmed late on Monday by his assistant, Joyce Cohen. 

In 2008, at age 82, Holbrook became the oldest male performer ever nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in “Into the Wild.”

But it was his recreation of the revered American novelist, humorist and social critic in “Mark Twain Tonight” that brought Holbrook his greatest fame. It earned him a Tony award for his Broadway performance in 1966 and the first of his 10 Emmy nominations in 1967.

“Mark Twain is something precious to me. It’s my side arm through life,” Holbrook told NPR in 2007.

Holbrook said he took on the Twain persona after trying to find a figure to portray in a one-man play. He read a few pages of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and said he felt a connection.

He developed the act in New York City nightclubs and first took it to Broadway in 1959.

He also won Emmys for a television special playing Captain Lloyd Bucher in 1973’s “Pueblo” and as lead actor in a dramatic series in 1970 for the series “The Bold Ones: The Senator.”

His other films included “The Group” in 1966, “Wild in the Streets” in 1968, “Magnum Force” in 1973, “The Star Chamber” and “Wall Street” in 1987, “The Firm” in 1993, “That Evening Sun” in 2009 with wife Dixie Carter, and Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” in 2012. - Reuters