Holbrook to Perform at Old Globe

Tony- and Emmy-award winning actor Hal Holbrook will make his Old Globe debut as Shylock, the money lender, in “The Merchant of Venice,” from June 28-Aug. 11 at the Lowell Davies Festival Stage, theater officials said Monday.

Holbrook, best-known for his Tony-award winning performance in his one-man show, “Mark Twain Tonight!,” which he has toured throughout the country--won Emmy awards for his work in “The Senator,” “Pueblo” and “Sandburg’s Lincoln.” He has also starred in several movies, including “All the President’s Men,” in which he played confidential source Deep Throat. He now plays a recurring role in the series “Evening Shade,” starring Burt Reynolds.

Holbrook’s last Shakespearean venture was in the title role of “King Lear” last November at New York’s Roundabout Theatre. Mel Gussow of the New York Times praised Holbrook’s performance for its “magisterial grace,” crediting him with “the agility of a mountain climber, capturing the sudden, mercurial turns in his character.” Old Globe artistic director Jack O’Brien will direct “The Merchant of Venice.”