Hal Holbrook, popular for his one-man portrayal of American literary legend Mark Twain is dead. He was 95 at the time of his death the New York Times reported on Tuesday 2nd February.
Holbrook died on 23rd January at his home in Beverly Hills, California, the New York Times reported. His death was confirmed late on Monday 1st February by his assistant, Joyce Cohen.
In 2008, at age 82, Holbrook became the oldest male performer ever nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in “Into the Wild.”
But it was his recreation of the revered American novelist, humorist and social critic in “Mark Twain Tonight” that brought Holbrook his greatest fame. It earned him a Tony award for his Broadway performance in 1966 and the first of his 10 Emmy nominations in 1967.
Holbrook was a young man in the mid-1950s when he crafted the role of Twain, who died in 1910 at age 75. His big exposure came when he took the act to the popular “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
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He performed it for former President Dwight Eisenhower and in an international tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department. He continued with his Twain act well into his 90s.
“Mark Twain is something precious to me. It’s my sidearm through life,” Holbrook told NPR in 2007.
Hal Holbrook said he took on the Twain persona after trying to find a figure to portray in a one-man play. He read a few pages of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and said he felt a connection. He developed the act in New York City nightclubs and first took it to Broadway in 1959.
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