Isiah Whitlock Jr., 'The Wire' actor, dies at 71

"It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him you loved him. A brilliant actor and even better person," manager Brian Liebman wrote on social media.

Whitlock delighted audiences as slimy politician Clay Davis on action-packed drama "The Wire," based on former journalist David Simon's gritty tales from the seedy underbelly of drug-trafficking and criminal politicking in Baltimore, Maryland.

Writers on the show leaned into his character's catchphrase, a drawn-out pronunciation of the word "shit" that lasted several syllables "sheeeee-it."