Hal Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award. He has also done a one-man show as Mark Twain since 1954.

Born Harold Rowe Holbrook, Jr. on February 17, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio. Hal Holbrook studied theater at nearby Denison University but was forced to put his schooling on hold to serve as an Army engineer during World War II. Three years later, he returned to Denison to immerse himself in an honors project on the life and works of Mark Twain. These studies were a precursor to Holbrook's most famed work: his portrayal of the American humorist in the Tony Award-winning one-man show Mark Twain Tonight!, which ran from 1959 to 2005.

To supplement his income during the Twain show's early years, Holbrook appeared on the soap opera "The Brighter Day." A tout on the Ed Sullivan Show led to an off-Broadway production and national tour of Mark Twain Tonight! In 1966, the show debuted on Broadway earning Holbrook Tony and Drama Desk awards. He continued to perform the show for 50 years, as well as write a book about his experience entitled Mark Twain Tonight! An Actor's Portrait. In 2004, Holbrook marked his 2,000 th performance with the show.

Holbrook had other stage performances to his credit, including 1965's The Glass Menagerieand 1977's Our Town. He was also notably cast on television in 1973's Pueblo and 1976's Lincoln, and more recently on The West Wing and The Sopranos. His film credits include 1976's All The President's Men,1993's The Firm and 2001's The Majestic.In 2008, Holbrook received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as a lonely widower in director Sean Penn's film adaptation of Into the Wild