Character actor Baker Hall dies at 90
Philip Baker Hall, the veteran character actor who typically played crusty, no-nonsense parts and was best known for a minor role on “Seinfeld,” has died at age 90.
His hundreds of film and TV credits include “Say Anything,” “Boogie Nights” and “The Truman Show.”
Hall died Sunday in Glendale, Calif., surrounded by loved ones, according to his wife of nearly four decades, Holly Wolfle Hall. She added that he only started feeling ill a few weeks before his death, and spent his last days in good spirits and reflecting on his life.
“His voice at the end was still just as powerful,” said Wolfle Hall, adding that her husband never officially gave up acting.
The Toledo, Ohio, native started out in theater in Los Angeles and took on tiny, often uncredited parts in shows like “Good Times” and “M*A*S*H” as he worked his way up the call sheet. By the 1980s, he had made a name for himself, appearing in a run of movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, including “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.”
From there, he popped up everywhere, from “The Truman Show” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” to “Argo” and “Bruce Almighty.” On the small screen he starred in “The Loop” as the head executive of TransAlliance Airways and played the crotchety neighbor in “Modern Family,” as well as roles in “Messiah,” “The Newsroom” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
But it was his 1991 guest role on “Seinfeld” that may have drawn the most attention. Hall played a dogged detective hunting down Jerry Seinfeld over a library book overdue by 20 years.
“It’s been over 20 years since we shot that episode, and I still can’t go out in public for very long before someone says, ‘My god, it’s Bookman!’ Or: ‘Are you Bookman? I returned that library book, I swear!’ ” Hall told Rolling Stone in 2014. “It’s not just in New York or L.A.; it’s happened in a mall in the Midwest or even other countries where they air the show. The guy made an impression.”
When “Seinfeld” wrapped in 1998, Hall returned to the show for its finale.
Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Farmer broke the news of Hall’s death in a tweet Monday, writing, “My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented and kindest people I’ve ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night. He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it.”