Isiah Whitlock Jr obituary

"David Simon created The Wire but it was Whitlock who originated that word's distinctive delivery. It was a hangover from his performance in Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002). Whitlock played the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent Amos Flood, who utters the elongated word after retrieving cash and drugs stowed inside a suspect's sofa. It became an in-joke or call-back in his later performances as Flood in Lee's films She Hate Me (2004) and Red Hook Summer (2012)."

"It became an in-joke or call-back in his later performances as Flood in Lee's films She Hate Me (2004) and Red Hook Summer (2012). In the latter, which found the character seemingly demoted to precinct detective, he gave what Slate called arguably the longest, richest sheee-it to date. It earned yet another reprise in Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018). In each instance, the actor delivered the word in a sly, incredulous rumble."

"Senator Davis, initially a minor character in The Wire, featured so sporadically in the first two seasons that Whitlock initially turned down the offer to return for the third one. I was doing Othello in Alabama, and I said, No, I can't be bothered. I'm not gonna go' They finally convinced me to because David Simon pulled me aside and said,"

Isiah Whitlock Jr, who died aged 71, became known for an elongated pronunciation of the expletive 'Sheee-it'. The pronunciation bent and stretched the central vowel into a sly, incredulous rumble. The delivery originated in Whitlock's role as DEA agent Amos Flood in Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002) and recurred as an in-joke across Lee's films She Hate Me, Red Hook Summer and BlacKkKlansman. Whitlock borrowed the exact pronunciation from an uncle. Senator Clay Davis began as a minor, sporadic character on The Wire, and Whitlock initially declined to return until David Simon outlined a rip-off-drug-dealers storyline.

Read at www.theguardian.com