and on Hawaii Five-0 later in the year. In September 2017, after six decades of playing the role of Mark Twain, Holbrook announced his retirement from Mark Twain Tonight! Holbrook indicated that he would like to continue working on movies and television. Personal life Holbrook was married three times and had three children. He married a Newfoundlander, Ruby Elaine Johnston, in 1945 and they had two children. They divorced in 1965. In 1966, he married Carol Eve Rossen. They had one child and they divorced in 1983. 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. Holbrook appeared as a recurring character on Carter's TV series, Designing Women. 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. He also had a residence in Beverly Hills, California. 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. In 2011, Holbrook's memoir, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In October 2016, Holbrook wrote a letter to The New York Times defending actor director Nate Parker over his alleged 1999 rape of a woman and Parker's controversial film The Birth of a Nation. He 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". Political views Holbrook occasionally criticized the politicization of religion. He was a registered independent, but leaned towards the liberal end of the U.S. political spectrum. He criticized the Republican Party while Barack Obama was in office. In 2016, he castigated then-Republican candidate Donald Trump for not having "the maturity to run the country". Holbrook praised Senator Bernie Sanders as the only politician who does not "say what they think might get them elected" and praised his honesty. Death Holbrook died at his home in Beverly Hills on January 23, 2021, at age 95; no cause was given. His death was announced more than a week later, on February 2. He was buried in McLemoresville Cemetery in McLemoresville, Tennessee, alongside his wife, Dixie Carter. Legacy In 2003, President