Hal Holbrook dies at 95

[Perry]

    Besides the fact he merely stole Magnum Force with his performance as Lieutenant Briggs, this guy was just a first class diversified great actor. Sad loss..

[AKA23]

I liked him. Hal Holbrook was always a dependable and reliable character actor. Since I hadn?t seen him in anything in so long, I mistakenly thought he had already passed away. The last role I remember seeing him in is when he portrayed an old rancher in ?That Evening Sun,? which was many years ago. He was great in the role. I remember thinking at the time that it could have been a good role for Clint Eastwood as well. He was also the second best villain in the Dirty Harry series after Scorpio. RIP Hal!

[Christopher]

I just saw this news online. Sad to hear. I agree with AKA that he is the second best villain in the Dirty Harry series, and I agree with Perry that he was terrific in that movie.

[KC]

I heard about this one on the radio. Very sorry to lose him.

Here are links to a couple of obits:

Hollywood Reporter

Hal Holbrook, Actor Who Channeled Mark Twain for Decades, Dies at 95

He won five Emmys, earned an Oscar nom at age 82 for 'Into the Wild' and starred in 'Magnum Force' and 'Wall Street.'

Hal Holbrook, the craftsman who reincarnated Mark Twain on stage and screen for more than six decades and also stood out as Abraham Lincoln and Deep Throat, two other American legends, has died. He was 95.

Holbrook died Jan. 23 in Beverly Hills, his personal assistant, Joyce Cohen, told The New York Times on Monday night.

A five-time Emmy winner, Holbrook was 82 when he became the oldest man (at the time) to receive an Oscar acting nomination when he was honored for his performance as a leatherwork expert in Into the Wild (2007).

The Cleveland native also was memorable as a Senate candidate in Wild in the Streets (1968); as the vigilante boss of police inspector Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force (1973); as a NASA exec who engineers a fake Mars landing in Capricorn One (1977); as a judge who takes matters into his own hands in The Star Chamber (1983); and as old-school stockbroker Lou Mannheim in Wall Street (1987).

Variety

Holbrook's inimitable voice, full of a world-weary integrity, was inevitably attractive to documentary makers and feature film directors requiring narration or voiceover. He narrated docus such as "The Mighty Mississippi" and "The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine" and movies including 2011's "Water for Elephants." He won an Emmy in 1989 for narrating the "Alaska" segment of the "Portrait of America" documentary series.

The actor made a deep impression on the big screen as well, playing Deep Throat in "All the President's Men"- it was he who intoned the famous words "Follow the money!"; a power-mad police lieutenant in the Dirty Harry movie "Magnum Force"; and, in a brief and underappreciated performance, a stockbroker warning of the dangers of ethical lapses in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street."

New York Times
(This one is mostly about Holbrook and his signature role as Mark Twain.)

I can't resist posting a couple of quotes from Magnum Force:

Harry Callahan: Yeah?

Lieutenant Briggs: Harry, this is Briggs. Are you alone?

Harry Callahan: No, as a matter of fact, I'm entertaining a young lady friend.

Lieutenant Briggs: Well, put your pants back on, Callahan, and come down to the city morgue as fast as you can.

Lt. Briggs: There isn't one man we've killed who didn't deserved what was coming to him.

Harry Callahan: Yes, there is--Charlie McCoy.

Lt. Briggs: And what would you have done?

Harry Callahan: I'd have upheld the law.

Lt. Briggs: What the hell do you know about the law? You're a great cop, Harry. You had a chance to join the team, but you'd rather stick with the system.

Harry Callahan: Briggs, I hate the goddamn system, but until someone comes along with some changes that makes sense, I'll stick with it.

Lt. Briggs: You're about to become extinct.

Hal Holbrook, R.I.P. 

[Perry]

Holbrook in the tv movie That Certain Summer which was a daring tv movie in 1972 solidified his acting prowess.....

[palooka]

Fabulous actor. I got to meet him once, at a recording of Designing Women (he was married to Dixie Carter) and he was very friendly. At the time, I was a big fan of his horror films The Fog and Creepshow and missed the opportunity to talk about corrupt cops! In fact, looking back, there were about 10 other films I could have talked about, all better than the 2 I did choose. Still, something different for him I guess.

RIP.

[Hocine]

Hal Holbrook was a great actor.
I don't know all his films.
Lately, I have seen him in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Sean Penn's Into the Wild.
I have seen him in some of 70's movies.
But Magnum Force is the film in which I saw him for the first time.
I agree with the fact that he was the second best villain of the Dirty Harry franchise.

[Aline]

After Scorpio, he was the scariest villain. That bloody face when he shows up outside Harry's car window still impresses me.