Actor Philip Baker Hall, known for films such as Magnolia and Boogie Nights, has died at the age of 90.
The news was initially shared by his neighbor and Los Angeles Times writer Sam Farmer on Twitter. “My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented, kindest people I’ve ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night,” he wrote. “He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in him.”
His wife Holly Wolfle Hall later confirmed the news to the Associated Press. He said that he had done well until relatively recently and that he spent his last days reflecting on his life with a warm spirit. “His voice in the end was still just as powerful,” he said.
Defined as a historical character actor, Hall began his stage career in New York City before embarking on a career in Hollywood in the 1970s with small roles in Coma and television programs such as M * A * S * H and Good Times. . “When I first came here, I was completely naive. I didn’t know where to start, “Hall told the Washington Post.” Television really didn’t make sense to me. We never had TV. I didn’t see myself making a movie. Always. It didn’t seem possible or probable. “
But Hall continued to find work throughout the 1980s with roles in Ghostbusters II, Midnight Run and Say Anything, and in the 1990s with Air Force One, The Rock and The Truman Show.
He befriended Paul Thomas Anderson when the young director was working as a production assistant on a PBS film. Anderson then gave Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia roles, which led to even more work for Hall in the following decades.
Philip Baker Hall and Magnolia. Photo: Cinetext Collection / Sportsphoto / Allstar
Larry David also used it in both Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. “Philip has made me laugh more than any actor I’ve worked with,” David once said.
In 2012, Hall said his character in Seinfeld, library cop Joe Bookman, was arguably the best known of most people. “Bookman is what everyone remembers,” he said. “People will say forever, in the supermarket or wherever, no matter where,‘ Oh, you’re Bookman, right? I loved that Bookman. Now, I know you’ve done a lot of other things, but I loved this Bookman character. When they say, ‘I know you’ve done a lot of other things,’ it’s like, ‘You don’t even know half of it!’ But Bookman? Bookman presses a reply button. And I’m not ungrateful for that. “
Hall’s big-screen credits also included Dogville, The Insider, Zodiac, Argo, Bruce Almighty, and The Amityville Horror, while the small screen also featured The Newsroom and Modern Family, and his voice was heard. and Bojack Horseman.