Philip Baker Hall, one of Hollywood’s great character actors, has died. He was 90. Hall was best-known for one of the greatest guest appearances in Seinfeld as a library investigator, as well as memorable roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Magnolia, and Boogie Nights.
Los Angeles Times journalist Sam Farmer announced Hall’s death. “My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented, and kindest people I’ve ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night,” Farmer wrote. “He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it.”
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Hall’s wife, Holly Wolfe Hall, also confirmed the news to the Associated Press. She said he was in good spirits until his death in Glendale, California. “His voice at the end was still just as powerful,” Wolfe Hall said. Hall is also survived by his four daughters, four grandchildren, and his brother.
Hall was born on Sept. 10, 1931, in Toledo, Ohio, and served with the U.S. Army in Germany as a translater. He made his film debut in 1970, appearing in Zabriskie Point and Love-in ’72. He went on to star in dozens of shows and movies during the 1970s and 1980s, including Falcon Crest, Ghostbusters II, Matlock, Mariah, Cagney & Lacey, Coma, Samurai, M*A*S*H, and Midnight Run. One of his best-known ’80s roles was President Richard Nixon in the one-man play Secret Honor. He reprised the role in Robert Altman’s 1984 film.
In 1991, Hall appeared in the Seinfeld episode “The Library,” one of the most absurd early episodes in the show’s run. He played Lt. Joe Bookman, an investigator for the New York Public Library who took his job as seriously as Jack Webb’s character in Dragnet. Although Bookman only appeared in one other episode, “The Finale,” the character is one many associates with Hall. He worked with Seinfeld co-creator Larry David again by playing Dr. Morrison in two Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes.
“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 Stoneย 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.”
Hall’s career took an unexpected turn when he met Anderson. The future There Will Be Blood filmmaker met Hall on the set of a PBS film and the actor agreed to have coffee with him. The meeting resulted in Anderson’s 1993 short, Cigarettes & Coffee. Three years later, Anderson gave Hall a rare starring role in his first feature, Hard Eight. Hall played Sydney, a card hustler who takes a young protege (John C. Reilly) under his wing. Anderson also cast Hall in Boogie Nights and Magnolia.
Hall’s other credits include Bruce Allmighty, Dogville, The Zodiac, Zodiac, The West Wing, Monk, Boston Legal, You Kill Me, People Like Us, 50/50, Bad Words, Argo, BoJack Horseman, Air Force One, Madam Secretary, Rush Hour, The Truman Show, and The Insider. His final role was Zelman Katz in the Netflix series Messiah. ย
