Veteran actor Philip Baker Hall, who has made a name for himself in numerous Paul Thomas Anderson films, including Magnolia and Boogie Nights, has died at the age of 90, his neighbor Sam Farmer said on Monday.
“My neighbor, friend and one of the wisest, most talented and kind people I have ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night. He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it, “tweets Farmer, a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times.
Although the cause of Hall’s death has not been announced, he suffers from emphysema and relied on an oxygen tank, according to The Washington Post in 2017.
My neighbor, friend and one of the wisest, most talented and kind people I have ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night. He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has empty space in it. 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 feature film debut, Hard Eight. The role earned Hall a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor.
Hall, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, on September 10, 1931, made his film debut in the 1970 film Cowards Avoiding the Vietnam Army.
His numerous films also include The Rock, The Insider, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Zodiac, Argo, Air Force One, and Dogville.
Hall, whose first television appearance was in an episode of Good Times, also played a doctor in Curb Your Enthusiasm and a grumpy neighbor in Modern Family. And years later, he was still recognized for his role as a Book Lover in an episode of Seinfeld. His most recent television role was as Zelman Katz in the 2020 Netflix series Messiah.
He received brilliant news and a Drama Desk Award for his solo role as the disgraced former President Richard Nixon in the 1984 play Secret Honor, a role he repeated in Robert Altman’s film of the same name. His performance was a revelation to critic Roger Ebert, who wrote: “Nixon is portrayed by Philip Baker Hall, an actor I was previously unfamiliar with, with such wild intensity, such passion, such poison, such scandal, that we cannot retaliate.
Vincent Canby of the New York Times praises “Mr. Hall’s huge performance, which is just as amazing and risky… as that of Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus.
The actor often plays authoritative figures such as military officers and judges, including Judge Julius Hoffman in Chicago’s 2011 Chicago 8. The judges drove me crazy. I didn’t want to do more than that, “Hall told The Washington Post. “You can never walk. You sit behind a desk as if you were a god.
Hall is married to Diane Lewis, with whom he had two children from 1973 to 1976, and married Holly Wolf in 1981, with whom he has daughters Adela and Anna.
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