Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall (September 10, 1931 – June 12, 2022) was an American character actor. He is known for his collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson, including Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), and Magnolia (1999). He also starred in leading roles in films, such as Secret Honor (1984) and Duck (2005). Hall had supporting roles in many films, including Midnight Run (1988), Say Anything... (1989), The Truman Show (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Insider (1999), The Contender (2000), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), Zodiac (2007), 50/50 (2011), and Argo (2012). He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for his role in Hard Eight and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture for Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

Philip Baker Hall
Hall at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	(1931-09-10)September 10, 1931 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 12, 2022(2022-06-12) (aged 90) Glendale, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–2021[1]
Spouses	Mary-Ella Holst ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1966)​ Dianne Lewis ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1976)​ Holly Wolfle ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	4

Hall is also known for his prolific work on television. His early television work included M*A*S*H, Murder, She Wrote, and Cheers. One of his most memorable television roles was as Lt. Joe Bookman, the "library cop", in Seinfeld.^[2] He had recurring roles in The Practice, The West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and BoJack Horseman.

Early life

Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio.^[3][4] His mother was Alice Birdene (née McDonald), and his father, William Alexander Hall, was a factory worker from Montgomery, Alabama.^[5][6] He attended the University of Toledo.^[4] He served in Germany as a United States Army translator^[7] and as a high school teacher.^[8]

Career

After his film debut Cowards,^[9] he joined the Los Angeles Theatre Center.^[1][9] His first television role came for an episode of Good Times.^[9] Hall guest starred in episodes of M*A*S*H and Man from Atlantis.^[10][11] He had over 200 guest roles since 1977. He played Richard Nixon in the one-character film Secret Honor and reprised his role he had created during the play's original Off-Broadway run.^[12] Roger Ebert said about Hall and the film: "Nixon is portrayed by Philip Baker Hall, an actor previously unknown to me, with such savage intensity, such passion, such venom, such scandal, that we cannot turn away. Hall looks a little like the real Nixon; he could be a cousin, and he sounds a little like him. That's close enough. This is not an impersonation, it's a performance."^[13] Vincent Canby of The New York Times also praised Hall's "immense performance, which is as astonishing and risky ― for the chances the actor takes and survives ― as that of the Oscar-winning F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus."^[14]

In the 1980s, Hall co-starred in various films in supporting roles, including Nothing in Common (1986), Midnight Run (1988), Say Anything... and Ghostbusters II (both 1989). He played "Lt. Joe Bookman", a detective pursuing a long-overdue library book in the Seinfeld episodes, "The Library" and "The Finale".^[9] His first Seinfeld appearance led him to be widely lauded as one of the best guest stars on the series, and led to many other jobs.^[15]

Hall contributed an opening narration, a parody of the announcements one would hear on Magnetic Reference Laboratory's calibration tapes for analogue tape recorders, on 1000 Hurts, the 2000 album by Chicago post-punk band Shellac.

Hall starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's short film Cigarettes & Coffee, which was adapted into Anderson's directorial debut film Hard Eight (1996). For the film, Hall played a senior gambler who mentors a homeless man (John C. Reilly). Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said about Hall, "Here is another great performance. He is a man who has been around, who knows casinos and gambling, who finds himself attached to three people he could easily have avoided, who thinks before he acts."^[16] Hall was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He later starred in Anderson's other films Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). He was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Hall starred with Philip Seymour Hoffman in four films.^[17]

Hall had turns in a variety of films in the 1990s, including The Rock, The Truman Show, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The Insider. He co-starred in other films in the 2000s, including Dogville,^[9] Zodiac, and Argo.^[9] He played Captain Diel in the Rush Hour trilogy (though his scenes were cut from Rush Hour 2 and he was uncredited for the scene in Rush Hour 3).^[9][17] Hall had prominent roles in Bruce Almighty, In Good Company, The Amityville Horror, The Matador, You Kill Me, All Good Things, 50/50,^[18] and The Sum of All Fears.^[9]

Hall starred in the sitcom The Loop.^[9] He guest starred in the animated series The Life & Times of Tim. He played a physician in Curb Your Enthusiasm,^[9] and appeared in Modern Family.^[9] He appeared in an episode of The Newsroom and in a Holiday Inn commercial.^[9] For the short film Dear Chickens, he won best actor at Los Angeles Short Festival and at Filmets Badalona Film Festival in Barcelona.^[19][20]

Hall also undertook stage work in New York and Los Angeles, but did not appear on Broadway.^[4]

Personal life and death

Hall had two daughters, Patricia and Darcy, with his first wife, Mary-Ella Holst.^[4][21] He later married Holly Wolfle, with whom he had two daughters, Adella and Anna.^[1] He also had four grandchildren and a brother.^[22]

Hall died of emphysema at his home in Glendale, California, on June 12, 2022, at the age of 90.^[4][22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1970	Cowards	Father Reis		[9][23]
1974	Throw Out the Anchor!	Ryan	Credited as "Phillip Hall"	[24]
1978	Coma	Doctor		[25]
1980	The Man with Bogart's Face	Dr. Inman		[21]
1981	Dream On!			[26]
1982	The Last Reunion	Mike Sills		[26]
1984	Secret Honor	Richard Nixon		[9][23][27]
1986	Nothing in Common	Colonial Airlines Executive	Uncredited	[28]
1987	Three O'Clock High	Detective Mulvahill		[9]
1988	Midnight Run	Sidney		[4]
1989	Say Anything...	IRS Boss		[9][21]
	How I Got into College	Dean Patterson		[24]
	Ghostbusters II	Police Commissioner		[4]
	An Innocent Man	Judge Kenneth Lavet		[4]
1991	Blue Desert	Joe		[4]
1992	Live Wire	Senator Thyme		[4]
1993	Cigarettes & Coffee	Sydney	Short film	[9]
1994	The Last Laugh	William T.		[29]
1995	Kiss of Death	Big Junior Brown		[4]
1996	Eye for an Eye	Sidney Hughes		[4]
	Hard Eight	Sydney		[9][4]
	The Rock	Chief Justice	Uncredited	[4]
	The Little Death	Detective Snyder		[4]
	Hit Me	Lenny Ish	AKA The Ice Cream Dimension	[4]
1997	Buddy	Minister		[26]
	Air Force One	U.S. Attorney General Andrew Ward		[4]
	Boogie Nights	Floyd Gondolli		[9][4]
1998	Sour Grapes	Mr. Bell		[9][4]
	The Truman Show	Network Executive		[4]
	Judas Kiss	Pobby Malavero		[26]
	Rush Hour	Captain Diel		[4][21]
	Enemy of the State	Mark Silverberg, Attorney	Uncredited	[4]
	Prequel	Vaughn		[4]
	Psycho	Sheriff Chambers		[4]
1999	Let the Devil Wear Black	Sol Hirsch		[4]
	Cradle Will Rock	Gray Mathers		[4]
	Implicated	John Swayer		[26]
	The Insider	Don Hewitt		[9][4][27]
	Magnolia	Jimmy Gator		[9][4][27]
	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Alvin MacCarron		[4][21]
2000	Rules of Engagement	General H. Lawrence Hodges		[4]
	The Contender	Oscar Billings		[4]
	Lost Souls	Father James		[4][27]
2001	Rush Hour 2	Captain Diel	Scenes deleted	[27][9])
2002	The Sum of All Fears	Defense Secretary David Becker		[4][27]
	A Gentleman's Game	Charlie Logan		[4]
2003	Die, Mommie, Die!	Sol Sussman		[4][27]
	Dogville	Tom Edison Sr.		[9][4][27]
	Bruce Almighty	Jack Baylor		[4]
	A House on a Hill	Harry Mayfield		[4]
2004	In Good Company	Eugene Kalb		[4][21]
2005	The Matador	Mr. Randy		[4]
	A Buck's Worth		Voice; Short film	[30]
	Duck	Arthur Pratt		[4][27]
	The Amityville Horror	Father Callaway		[4][27]
	The Zodiac	Chief Frank Perkins		[9][4]
2006	The Shaggy Dog	Lance Strictland		[4][27]
	The TV Set	Vernon Maxwell		[26]
	Islander	Popper		[26]
2007	Zodiac	Sherwood Morrill		[9][4]
	You Kill Me	Roman Krzeminski		[4]
	Rush Hour 3	Captain William Diel	Uncredited	[9]
2009	The Lodger	Captain Smith		[4]
	Fired Up!	Coach Byrnes		[4]
	Wonderful World	The Man		[4][27]
2010	All Good Things	Malvern Bump		[26]
2011	The Chicago 8	Judge Julius Hoffman		[9]
	Mr. Popper's Penguins	Franklin		[4]
	50/50	Alan Lombardo		[4][21]
2012	Bending the Rules	Herb Gold		[26]
	People Like Us	Ike Rafferty		[23]
	Departure Date	Old Jake		[31]
	Dog Eat Dog	Old man	Short film	[32]
	Argo	CIA Director Stansfield Turner	Uncredited	[21]
2013	Bad Words	Dr. William Bowman		[27][26]
2014	Playing It Cool	Granddad		[26]
2017	Person to Person	Jimmy		[26]
	The Last Word	Edward	Final film role	[23][21][4]
2018	Dear Chickens	Emil	Short film	[26]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1975	The Last Survivors	Attorney	Television film	[9]
1975; 1978	Emergency!	Oliver Warren / Dr. Scott	2 episodes	[21]
1976	Good Times	Motel Owner	Episode: "J.J.'s Fiancee: Part 2"	[9][21]
	Mayday at 40,000 Feet!	Reporter	Television film	[4]
1976–77	Visions	Boyle / Severson	2 episodes	[33]
1977	Man from Atlantis	George	Episode: "Man from Atlantis"	[21]
	The Hostage Heart	Dr. Harvey Fess	Television film	[34]
	Kill Me If You Can	Phillips		[34]
	M*A*S*H	Sergeant Hacker	Episode: "The Light That Failed"	[21]
1978	The Fitzpatricks	Bertram	Episode: "A Living Wage"	[31]
	The Bastard	Shopkeeper	Miniseries	[4]
	Terror Out of the Sky	Starrett	Television film	[26]
1979	Samurai	Professor Owens		[24]
1980	The Waltons	Major Gordon	Episode: "The Furlough"	[21]
	The Night the Bridge Fell Down	Warren Meech	Television film	[4]
	It's a Living	Man in Hotel Room	Episode: "The Lois Affair"	[35]
	Riding for the Pony Express	Mr. Durfee	Television film	[36][37]
1981	This House Possessed	Clerk		[38]
1982	McClain's Law	Mr. Harris	Episode: "Takeover"	[39]
	Quincy, M.E.	Deputy DA Marty Shell Captain Rasmussen	2 episodes	[21]
	Cagney & Lacey	Lieutenant Sweeny	Episode: "Hot Line"	[21]
	T. J. Hooker	Judge Wallace	Episode: "A Cry for Help"	[21]
	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	Prosecutor / Wilcox	2 episodes	[39]
	Games Mother Never Taught You	Lester Greene	Television film	[40]
1984	Benson	Harrison Fowler	Episode: "The Election"	[41]
	Lottery!		Episode: "Houston: Duffy's Choice"	[42]
1985	Hardcastle and McCormick	Jack Marsh	Episode: "Too Rich and Too Thin"	[43]
1986	Who Is Julia?	Dean May	Television film	[31]
1987	Mariah	James Malone	7 episodes	[9][27][4]
	The Spirit	Sevrin	Television film	[4]
	Miami Vice	Judge DeLaporte	Episode: "Contempt of Court"	[21]
1988	Goddess of Love	Detective Charles	Television film	[4]
	Family Ties	Dr. Harrison	3 episodes	[21]
1989	A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story	Judge Blumenfeld	Television film	[4]
	Incident at Dark River	Dr. Leo Manus	Television film	[4]
1989–90	Falcon Crest	Ed Meyers	13 episodes	[21]
1990	Matlock	Judge	Episode: "The Mother"	[21]
	Bagdad Cafe	Herb	Episode: "This Bird Has Flown"	[44]
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Len Costner	Episode: "Moving Violation"	[4][21]
	L.A. Law	Tom Baker	Episode: "He's a Crowd"	[21]
	Equal Justice	Judge S.E. Cleveland	Episode: "Do the Wrong Thing"	[45]
	Dark Justice	Winchester Keller	Episode: "The Neutralizing Factor"	[21]
1991–92	Civil Wars	Judge Bianchi	3 episodes	[21]
1991; 1998	Seinfeld	Lt. Joe Bookman	2 episodes: "The Library" and "The Finale"	[28]
1992	A Thousand Heroes	Sam Gochenour	Television film; AKA Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232	[46]
	Stormy Weathers	Dr. Comden	Television film	[4]
	Nurses	Mr. Todd	Episode: "Playing Doctor"	[35]
1993	Cheers	City Councilman Kevin Fogerty	Episode: "Woody Gets an Election"	[21]
	Bob	Jeweler	Episode: "Have Yourself a Married Little Christmas"	[4]
1994	M.A.N.T.I.S.	"Smitty"	Television film	[4]
	Empty Nest	Jerod	Episode: "Brotherly Shove"	[4]
	The Good Life	Mr. Humphreys	Episode: "Melissa the Thief"	[47]
	Roswell	Roswell General	Television film	[35]
	Madman of the People	Kent	Episode: "All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Mad Boy"	[48]
	Chicago Hope	Mr. Wellington	Episode: "You Gotta Have Heart"	[21]
	Hardball	Beanball McGee	Episode: "Lee's Bad, Bad Day"	[49]
	Without Warning	Dr. Kurt Lowden	Television film	[26]
1996	Life's Work	Judge Conklin	Episode: "Contempt"	[50]
	The John Larroquette Show	Mr. Frank	Episode: "Napping to Success"	[51][35]
1997	3rd Rock from the Sun	President Dewey	Episode: "Proud Dick"	[45]
	The Practice	Judge Joseph Vinocour	4 episodes	[21]
1997–98	Millennium	Group Elder	2 episodes	[9][52]
	Michael Hayes	William Vaughn	20 episodes	[53][54]
1998	Tempting Fate	Dr. Bardwell	Television film	[4]
	Witness to the Mob	Toddo Aurello	Television film	[4]
	L.A. Doctors	Vincent Cattano	Episode: "Fear of Flying"	[42]
1999	Partners	Scarpatti	Pilot	[55]
2000	The Fugitive	Stuart Kimble	Episode: "St. Christopher's Prayer"	[56]
	Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis	Aristotle Onassis	Television film	[4]
2000; 2002	Baby Blues	Mr. Thompson / Mr. Saunders	Voice; 2 episodes	[21]
2001	Pasadena	George Reese Greeley	7 episodes	[45]
	Loomis	"Big Jack" Caruso	Unaired pilot	[42]
2002	Path to War	Everett Dirksen	Television film	[4]
	Night Visions	Dennis Brascom	Episode: "Cargo/Switch"	[4]
	Without a Trace	Noah Ridder	Episode: "Silent Partner"	[45]
2003	Everwood	Dr. Donald Douglas	3 episodes	[21]
2004	Monk	Salvatore Lucarelli	Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather"	[21]
	Boston Legal	Ernie Dell	Episode: "Head Cases"	[45]
	The West Wing	Senator Matt Hunt	2 episodes	[21]
2004; 2009	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Dr. Morrison	2 episodes	[28]
2005	Mrs. Harris	Arthur Schulte	Television film	[4]
2006–07	The Loop	Russ	17 episodes	[9]
2007	Big Love	Ned Johanssen	Episode: "Take Me as I Am"	[45]
	Wildlife	Arnie	Unaired pilot	[57]
2008	Psych	Irving Parker	Episode: "Dis-Lodged"	[26][45]
	Worst Week	Reverend Lowell	2 episodes	[42]
2009	True Jackson, VP	Mr. Jenkins	Episode: "Flirting with Fame"	[58]
2010	The Life & Times of Tim	Norman Walker (voice)	Episode: "London Calling/Novelist"	[21]
	Warren the Ape	Dr. Ralph Schwartz	Episode: "Rock Opera"	[9]
2011–12	Modern Family	Walt Kleezak	3 episodes	[9]
2012	The Newsroom	Bryce DeLancy	Episode: "The 112th Congress"	[9]
	Childrens Hospital	Josef Mengele	Episode: "A Year in the Life"	[9]
	Ruth & Erica	Harry	8 episodes	[59]
2013	Clear History	McKenzie	Television film	[60]
2014	Rake	Mitch Markham	Episode: "Remembrance of Taxis Past"	[61]
	Altman	Himself	Documentary	[23][42]
2015	Madam Secretary	Ezra Helsinger	Episode: "The Necessary Art"	[21]
	BoJack Horseman	Hank Hippopopalous	Voice; 2 episodes	[21]
2016	Second Chance	Old Jimmy Pritchard	5 episodes	[4]
2017	Room 104	Charlie	Episode: "My Love"	[4]
2018	Corporate	Arthur Stockheed	Episode: "Powerpoint of Death"	[4]
2020	Messiah	Zelman Katz	Final role, 6 episodes	[4]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Playwright	Venue	Ref.
1960	The Fantasticks	Hucklebee	Tom Jones	Sullivan Street Playhouse, Off-Broadway	[62]
1965	In White America	Performer	Martin Duberman	Players Theatre, Off-Broadway	[63]
1975	Gorky	Gorky	Steve Tesich	American Place Theatre, Off-Broadway	[64]
1979	The Chicago Conspiracy Trial	Judge Hoffman	Ron Sossi and Frank Condon	Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Los Angeles	[65]
1983	In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer	Herbert S. Marks	Heinar Kipphardt	Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Los Angeles	[66]
	Secret Honor	Richard Nixon	Donald Freed	Provincetown Playhouse, Off-Broadway	[67]
1990	The Crucible	Thomas Danforth	Arthur Miller	Los Angeles Theatre Company	[68]
1995	The Homecoming	Max	Harold Pinter	Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles	[69]
2000	American Buffalo	Don	David Mamet	Donmar Warehouse, West End	[70]
				Linda Gross Theatre, Off-Broadway	[71]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1996	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead	Hard Eight	Nominated	[72]
1997	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Cast – Motion Picture	Boogie Nights	Nominated	[73]
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Ensemble		Won	[74]
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Cast – Motion Picture	Magnolia	Nominated	[75]
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Ensemble		Won	[76]
2001	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Alan J. Pakula Award	The Contender	Won	[77]
2012	Hollywood Film Awards	Best Ensemble	Argo	Won	[78]