Philip Baker Hall, of 'Hard Eight,' 'Seinfeld,' dies at 90
NEW YORK (AP) - Philip Baker Hall, the prolific character actor of film and theater who starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's first movies and who memorably hunted down a long-overdue library book in 'œSeinfeld,'ť has died. He was 90.
Holly Wolfle Hall, the actor's wife of nearly 40 years, on Monday said Hall died Sunday surrounded by loved ones in Glendale, California. She said Hall had been well until a few weeks earlier, and spent his final days in warm spirits, reflecting on his life.
'œHis voice at the end was still just as powerful,'ť said Wolfle Hall. Her husband, she added, never retired from acting.
In a career spanning half a century, Hall was a ubiquitous hangdog face whose doleful, weary appearance could shroud a booming intensity and humble sensitivity. His range was wide, but Hall, who had a natural gravitas, often played men in suits, trench coats and lab coats.
"Men who are highly stressed, older men, who are at the limit of their tolerance for suffering and stress and pain,'ť Hall told the Washington Post in 2017. 'œI had an affinity for playing those roles.'ť
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Hall initially devoted himself more to theater in Los Angeles, after moving out in 1975, than TV and movies. While shooting bit parts in Hollywood (an episode of 'œGood Times'ť was one of his first gigs), Hall worked with the L.A. Actor Theatre. There he played Richard Nixon in the one-act play 'œSecret Honor,'ť a role he reprised in Robert Altman's 1984 film adaptation. Critic Pauline Kael wrote that Hall 'œdraws on his lack of a star presence and on an actor's fears of his own mediocrity in a way that seems to parallel Nixon's feelings."
Hall made an impression in the smallest of roles in other films, like 1988's 'œMidnight Run." But outside of theater, Hall was mostly doing guest roles in television. That changed when he was shooting a PBS program in 1992. Hall then encountered a production assistant in his early 20s named Paul Thomas Anderson. The two would hang out, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee between scenes. Anderson, believing Hall hadn't gotten his due in film, asked him to look at a script he had written for a 20-minute short film titled 'œCigarettes & Coffee.'ť
'œI'm reading this script, and I truly had trouble believing that that kid wrote this script,'ť Hall told the AV Club in 2012. 'œI mean, it was just so brilliant, resonating with nuance all over the place, like a playwright. Certainly, as a film, I'd never really seen anything like it. It was staggering.'ť
After the $20,000 short made it into the Sundance Film Festival, Anderson expanded it into his feature debut, 1997's 'œHard Eight,'ť which catapulted Hall's career. In it, Hall played a wise and courteous itinerate gambler named Sydney who schools a young drifter (John C. Reilly) on the craft. In one indelible scene, Philip Seymour Hoffman's first with Anderson, a hot-shot gambler chides Hall as 'œold-timer.'ť
Anderson would cast Hall again as adult film theater magnate Floyd Gondolli who warns Burt Reynolds' pornography producer about the industry's future in 'œBoogie Nights." In Anderson's 'œMagnolia,'ť Hall played Jimmy Gator, the host of a kids game show.
'œI have a particular fascination with character actors, with wanting to turn them into lead actors," Anderson told The Los Angeles Times in 1998. "I see Philip Baker Hall, he's just . . . an actor that I love. There's no one else with a face like that, or a voice like that.'ť
To many, Hall was instantly recognizable for one of the most powerfully funny guest appearances on 'œSeinfeld.'ť In the 22nd episode of the sitcom in 1991, Hall played Lt. Joe Bookman, the library investigator who comes after Seinfeld for a years-overdue copy of 'œTropic of Cancer." Hall played him like a hardboiled noir detective, telling Seinfeld: 'œWell, I got a flash for ya, Joy-boy: Party time is over.'ť
Hall was brought back for the 'œSeinfeld'ť finale and by Larry David on 'œCurb Your Enthusiasm.'ť David once said no other actor ever made him laugh more than Hall.
Among Hall's many other credits were Michael Mann's 'œThe Insider,'ť as 'œ60 Minutes'ť producer Don Hewitt, and Lars von Trier's 'œDogville." Hall appeared in 'œSay Anything,'ť 'œThe Truman Show,'ť 'œThe Talented Mr. Ripley,'ť 'œZodiac,'ť 'œArgo'ť and 'œRush Hour." Hall played the neighbor Walt Kleezak on 'œModern Family.'ť His last performance was in the 2020 series 'œMessiah.'ť
Hall, who was married to Dianne Lewis for three years in the early 1970s, is survived by his wife, four daughters, four grandchildren and his brother.