Hal Holbrook

Hal Holbrook (born February 17, 1925, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.—died January 23, 2021, Beverly Hills, California) was an American actor best known for his exacting portrayal of author Mark Twain in his one-man show, Mark Twain Tonight!, which ran for more than six decades.

Holbrook’s parents abandoned him and his siblings when he was two years old, and the children were raised thereafter by their grandparents. In 1942 Holbrook entered Denison University, Ohio, where he studied theatre arts. At the end of his first year, however, he joined the U.S. Army to serve in World War II. He worked as a military engineer for the next three years, during which time he participated in an amateur theatre group in Newfoundland. Following his service Holbrook returned to Denison, graduating with a B.A. in theatre arts in 1948.

Holbrook’s Mark Twain show grew out of an honours project he had done at Denison. Holbrook and his then wife, Ruby, put together a traveling show called Great Personalities, in which they portrayed historical figures, including Twain. In 1952 the Holbrooks moved to New York City, where Hal found regular work on radio and television shows. On the side he continued to develop the Mark Twain portion of their act, eventually turning it into a one-man show. In 1954 he gave his first solo performance as Twain, Mark Twain Tonight!, at a college in Pennsylvania. For the show, Holbrook assumed the persona of a 70-year-old Twain, complete with painstakingly applied stage makeup, and recited some of the humorist’s works. Increasingly interested in perfecting Twain’s mannerisms, he embarked on several years of study of Twain’s character and habits and eventually memorized hours of Twain’s material. In April 1959 Mark Twain Tonight! debuted Off-Broadway to critical acclaim. Holbrook continued to perform as Twain until 2017, giving more than 2,000 performances across the United States and around the world. Among these were several runs on Broadway—one of which earned him a Tony Award in 1966—and a special recorded for television in 1967, which garnered him the first of many Emmy Award nominations. He also produced recordings of his solo shows, for which he earned three Grammy Award nominations.

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While intermittently touring with Mark Twain Tonight!, Holbrook maintained a career on television and, from the 1960s, on film. He also appeared in other stage shows, notably the musical comedy The Apple Tree (1967) and the drama I Never Sang for My Father (1968). On TV Holbrook memorably portrayed U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln in the miniseries Sandburg’s Lincoln(1974–76); the role earned him one of five career Emmy Awards. He also appeared on such television shows as The West Wing, The Sopranos, ER, Sons of Anarchy, and Grey’s Anatomy. His most notable film roles included Deep Throat in All the President’s Men (1976), about the Watergate scandal; a wise and experienced broker in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street (1987); and the head of a crime-affiliated law office in The Firm (1993). He took on the role of Lincoln adviser Francis Preston Blairin the acclaimed movie Lincoln (2012). At age 82 Holbrook earned his first Academy Award nomination, for his portrayal of Ron Franz, a retiree who befriends a young adventurer in Into the Wild (2007)—making him the oldest man ever nominated for best supporting actor.

Holbrook’s other honours included a National Humanities Medal (2003). In 2011 he published an autobiography, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain.