Actor Philip Baker Hall, known for movies like 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 and kind people I have ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night,” he wrote. “He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it. “
His wife, Holly Wolf Hall, later confirmed the news to the Associated Press. She said he had been well until relatively recently and had spent his last days contemplating his life in a warm mood. “His voice in the end was still just as powerful,” she said.
Described as a legendary actor, Hall began his stage in New York before embarking on a Hollywood career in the 1970s with small roles in Coma and on television shows such as M * A * S * H and the 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 matter to me. We never had a TV. I didn’t see myself making a movie. sometime. It didn’t seem possible or likely. “
But Hall continued to find work in the ’80s with roles in Ghostbusters II, Midnight Run and Say Anything, and in the’ 90s with Air Force One, The Rock and The Truman Show.
He befriended Paul Thomas Anderson when the young director worked as a PBS film production assistant. Anderson then gave him roles in Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, which led to even more work for Hall in the following decades.
Philip Baker Hall in Magnolia. Photo: Cinetext Collection / Sportsphoto / Allstar
Larry David also uses it in both Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. “Philip made me laugh harder than any actor I’ve worked with,” David once said.
In 2012, Hall said his character in Seinfeld, library cop Joe Bookman, was perhaps his most famous among most people. “The book lover is the one everyone remembers,” he said. “People will say forever, in the supermarket or anywhere, it doesn’t matter where, ‘Oh, you’re Bookman, aren’t you?’ I really liked this Bookman. I know you did 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 know half of it!” But Bookman? Bookman presses the answer button. And I’m not ungrateful for that. “
Hall’s credits on the big screen also include Dogville, The Insider, Zodiac, Argo, Bruce Almighty and The Amityville Horror, while on the small screen he was also seen in The Newsroom and Modern Family, and his voice was heard in Bojack Horseman.
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