Sometimes, even the president of the United States is just a TV fan like the rest of us.

“The Wire” creator David Simon was reminded of this in 2015. After interviewing President Barack Obama in the White House, Simon offered a parting gift — a talking bobblehead of Clay Davis, “The Wire”’s corrupt state senator played by Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Simon hit the miniature doll’s button to produce the character’s calling card: an indelible, deliciously elongated “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit” that could convey myriad emotions when deployed by Whitlock.

“Obama’s eyes lit up at the long drawl of the profanity and he marched over to the Resolute Desk. ‘This,’ the president said, laughing, ‘stays with me. I need a little bit of Clay Davis now and then,’” Simon recalled in a statement to The Banner.

Such was the impact made by Whitlock, who died on Tuesday at age 71, his manager Brian Liebman said on social media. Liebman, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told Deadline that Whitlock died after a short battle with an illness.

“It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him — you loved him. A brilliant actor and even better person,” Liebman wrote on Instagram.

Born in South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock steadily worked across five decades in TV and film, with frequent appearances in Spike Lee movies and credits in major titles like “Goodfellas,” “Enchanted” and “1408.”

His slickly funny portrayal of Davis on “The Wire” made Whitlock a constant scene-stealer in a cast filled with memorable characters. He appeared in all five seasons of the Baltimore-based drama, which ran on HBO from 2002 to 2008, with credits in 25 episodes, per IMDb.

Simon described Whitlock as “such a sweet man and delightful collaborator.”

After “The Wire,” Whitlock acted in numerous projects, from comedies like 2011’s “Cedar Rapids” to “Chi-Raq,” a Lee-directed musical from 2015 about Chicago gang violence. He also had a recurring role on HBO’s “Veep,” which was filmed in Baltimore, as Defense Secretary Gen. George Maddox.

Whitlock’s death comes days after James Ransone, a Baltimore-area native who played Ziggy Sobotka in “The Wire,” was found dead in Los Angeles on Dec. 19. Ransone was 46.

Below is Simon’s full statement on Whitlock:

This is an awful week. Isiah brought characters to life with a flair and charm that made you root for him regardless. I mean, we knew when writing state Sen. Clay Davis that the man was hopelessly corrupted, but by the last season of The Wire we also knew that he would survive intact when so many others would not. Honestly, I think we wanted him to win. And after watching Isiah’s performance on the witness stand in his own defense, we were halfway convinced he deserved to win. He was just that great.

And personally, he was such a sweet man and delightful collaborator.... One last story to remember tonight:

There was a point after the run of the show, when Isiah began, as a sidelight, offering for sale a Clay Davis bobblehead that when tapped would utter his single 13-voweled incantation of the word “shit.” Worried that he might be treading on HBO’s copyrights, he called me to ask if it was okay for him to do so....

....I told him sure, as far as I was concerned. He sent me a prototype and a couple weeks later, of all things, I found myself invited to the White House to do an interview with the President about the drug war and sentencing reform. I saw the bobblehead on my desk and called Isiah to ask if I could give it to President Obama, with compliments from the cast of The Wire. Isiah was beside himself with glee and after the interview concluded I pulled out the miniature Clay Davis and turned it on. Obama’s eyes lit up at the long drawl of the profanity and he marched over to the Resolute Desk. “This,” the president said, laughing, “stays with me. I need a little bit of Clay Davis now and then.” Isiah must have made me tell the story in detail to him five times, he was so delighted.