Veteran actor Philip Baker Hall, who lent his gravity to numerous Paul Thomas Anderson films such as “Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights,” has died at age 90, his neighbor Sam Farmer said Monday.
“My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented, 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.” , tweeted Farmer, a Los Angeles Times sports journalist.
Although the cause of Hall’s death was not announced, he suffered from emphysema and was dependent on an oxygen tank, The Washington Post reported in 2017.
My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented, 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. pic.twitter.com/pBCaILjHPT
– Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) June 13, 2022
Hall’s collaboration with Anderson began with the 1993 short film “Coffee and Cigarettes,” which became Anderson’s 1996 directorial debut, “Hard Eight.” The role earned Hall an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead.
Hall, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, on September 10, 1931, made his film debut in the 1970 film Cowards, about the escape of the Vietnam War draft.
His numerous films also include “The Rock”, “The Insider”, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “Zodiac”, “Argo”, “Air Force One” and “Dogville”.
Hall, whose first television appearance was in a Good Times episode, also played a doctor on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and a grumpy neighbor on “Modern Family.” And years later, he was still recognized for his role as “Bookman” in an episode of “Seinfeld.” His last television role was as Zelman Katz in the 2020 Netflix series “Messiah.”
He received brilliant announcements and a Drama Desk Award for his one-man role as disgraced former president Richard Nixon in the 1984 play “Secret Honor,” a role he reprized in Robert Altman’s first name. His performance was a revelation for critic Roger Ebert, who wrote: “Nixon is played by Philip Baker Hall, an actor previously unknown to me, with such wild intensity, so much passion, so much poison, so much scandal, that we can’t stay away. ”
Vincent Canby of The New York Times excited “Mr. Hall’s immense performance, as surprising and risky … as that of Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham in ‘Amadeus’.”
The actor often played authority figures such as military officers and judges, including Judge Julius Hoffman in “The Chicago 8” in 2011. “The judges drove me crazy. I didn’t want to do any more, “Hall told The Washington Post.” You can never walk. You’re sitting there behind the desk, like you’re a god. “
Hall married Dianne Lewis, with whom he had two children, between 1973 and 1976, and married Holly Wolfle in 1981, with whom he had daughters Adella and Anna.