46 Facts About Hal Holbrook

Hal Holbrook won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain.

Hal Holbrook continued to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health.

Hal Holbrook later gained international fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the President's Men.

Hal Holbrook played Abraham Lincoln in the 1973 miniseries Lincoln and 1985 miniseries North and South.

Hal Holbrook appeared in such films as Julia and Capricorn One, The Fog, Creepshow, Wall Street, The Firm, Hercules, and Men of Honor.

Hal Holbrook portrayed Francis Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

In 2003, Holbrook was honored with the National Humanities Medal by President George W Bush.

Hal Holbrook studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.

From 1942 through 1946, Hal Holbrook served in the United States Army in World War II, achieving the rank of staff sergeant; he was stationed in Newfoundland, where he performed in theater productions such as the play Lady Precious Stream.

Hal Holbrook was a member of the Valley Players, a summer-stock theater company based in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which performed at Mountain Park Casino Playhouse at Mountain Park.

Hal Holbrook joined The Lambs Club in 1955, where he began developing his one-man show.

Jo Mielziner created an innovative audio-visual ride experience and used Hal Holbrook's acting talents on 65 different action screens for "The Ride of Communications" with the movie itself known as From Drumbeats to Telstar.

Hal Holbrook won a Tony Award for the performance in 1966.

In 1964, Hal Holbrook played the role of the Major in the original production of Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy.

In 1966, Hal Holbrook starred opposite Shirley Booth in the acclaimed CBS Playhouse production of The Glass Menagerie.

Hal Holbrook co-starred with Martin Sheen in the controversial and acclaimed 1972 television film That Certain Summer.

Around that same year, Hal Holbrook appeared in a television public service announcement commissioned by the Ad Council; aimed at the parents of college students planning to study abroad, the PSA sees Hal Holbrook in a jail cell, warning viewers to inform their children of the penalties for drug abuse in countries outside the US.

In 1973, Hal Holbrook appeared as Lieutenant Neil Briggs, the boss and rival of Detective "Dirty" Harry Callahan in Magnum Force, an "obsessively neat and prim fanatic" who supports the obliteration of San Francisco's criminals and who is the leader of a rogue group of vigilante officers.

In 1976, Hal Holbrook won acclaim for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in a series of television specials based on Carl Sandburg's acclaimed biography.

Hal Holbrook won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the 1970 series The Bold Ones: The Senator.

Hal Holbrook was famous for his role as the enigmatic Deep Throat in the film All the President's Men.

Hal Holbrook appeared in other various mini-series, including George Washington and Dress Gray, and continued performing in theatrical productions, such as King Lear.

From 1986 to 1989, Hal Holbrook had a recurring role as Reese Watson on Designing Women, opposite his wife Dixie Carter.

Over a short period between 1988 and 1990, Hal Holbrook directed four episodes of the series.

Hal Holbrook had a major role on the sitcom Evening Shade throughout its entire run.

Early on in his career, Hal Holbrook worked onstage and in a television soap opera, The Brighter Day.

In 1999, Holbrook was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Hal Holbrook played the role of Albie Duncan in two episodes of The West Wing.

Hal Holbrook appeared as the host in the documentary The Seventh Day: Revelations From The Lost Pages of History.

Hal Holbrook appeared in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed film Into the Wild and received an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the 80th Academy Awards.

Hal Holbrook was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work in the film.

Hal Holbrook appeared with wife Dixie Carter in That Evening Sun, filmed in East Tennessee in the summer of 2008.

That Evening Sun was screened at the 2009 Nashville Film Festival, where Hal Holbrook was honored with a special Lifetime Achievement Award, and the film itself received another Audience Award.

Hal Holbrook appeared as a featured guest star in a 2006 episode of the HBO series The Sopranos and the NCIS episode "Escaped".

In 2016, Hal Holbrook was cast as Red Hudmore and appeared in the final season of Bones on January 17,2017.

Hal Holbrook married a Newfoundlander, Ruby Elaine Johnston, in 1945 and they had two children.

Hal Holbrook married actress and singer Dixie Carter in 1984 and the couple remained married until Carter's death from endometrial cancer on April 10,2010.

Hal Holbrook appeared as a recurring character on Carter's TV series, Designing Women.

Hal Holbrook said of his home in McLemoresville, Tennessee, that it had the "feel" of the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, and that there was no other place to which he felt so ideally suited.

Hal Holbrook had a recurring role on his wife's hit sitcom Designing Women, appearing in nine episodes between 1986 and 1989 as Carter's on-screen significant other.

Hal Holbrook urged others to "move on" from Parker's past and to view the film, which was "an exceptional piece of artistry and a vital portrait of our American experience".

Hal Holbrook was a registered independent, but leaned towards the liberal end of the US political spectrum.

Hal Holbrook criticized the Republican Party while Barack Obama was in office.

Hal Holbrook praised Senator Bernie Sanders as the only politician who does not "say what they think might get them elected" and praised his honesty.

Hal Holbrook died at his home in Beverly Hills on January 23,2021, at age 95; no cause was given.

Hal Holbrook was buried in McLemoresville Cemetery in McLemoresville, Tennessee, alongside his wife, Dixie Carter.