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.

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. He had recurring roles in The Practice, The West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and BoJack Horseman.

Early life Hall was born on September 10, 1931, in Toledo, Ohio. "Philip Baker Hall 10.9.31" His mother was Alice Birdene (née McDonald), and his father, William Alexander Hall, was a factory worker from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. He served in Germany as a United States Army translatorPhilip Baker Hall is your favorite actor whose name you can’t quite place. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2021. and as a high school teacher.

Career After his film debut Cowards, he joined the Los Angeles Theatre Center. His first television role was on an episode of Good Times. Hall guest starred in episodes of M*A*S*H and Man from Atlantis. He had over 200 guest roles since 1977. He played Richard Nixon in the one-character film Secret Honor, reprising the role he had created during the play's original Off-Broadway run. 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." 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."

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). His television appearances included Family Ties, Falcon Crest, Murder, She Wrote, and Cheers. He played "Lt. Joe Bookman", a detective pursuing a long-overdue library book in the Seinfeld episodes, "The Library" and "The Finale". 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.

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 (1993), 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." 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.

Hall had turns in a variety of films in the 1990s, including The Rock (1996), Buddy (1997), Air Force One (1997), The Truman Show (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), The Insider (1999), and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He played Captain Diel in the Rush Hour trilogy (1998-2007) (though his scenes were cut from Rush Hour 2 and he was uncredited for the scene in Rush Hour 3). He co-starred in other films in the 2000s, including Dogville (2003), Zodiac (2007), and Argo (2012). Hall had prominent roles in Rules of Engagement (2000), The Contender (2000), Bruce Almighty (2003), In Good Company (2004), Duck (2005), The Amityville Horror (2005), The Matador (2005), You Kill Me (2007), All Good Things (2010), 50/50 (2001), and The Sum of All Fears (2002).

Hall's later television appearances included The Practice, Without a Trace, The West Wing, Madam Secretary, and BoJack Horseman. He starred in the sitcom The Loop. He guest starred in the animated series The Life & Times of Tim. He played a physician in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and appeared in Modern Family. He appeared in an episode of The Newsroom and in a Holiday Inn commercial. For the short film Dear Chickens (2018), he won best actor at Los Angeles Short Festival and at Filmets Badalona Film Festival in Barcelona.

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

Personal life and death Hall had two daughters with his first wife, Mary-Ella Holst. He later married Holly Wolfle, with whom he had two daughters. He also had four grandchildren and a brother.

Hall died of emphysema at his home in Glendale, California, on June 12, 2022, at the age of 90.

Filmography Film Year Title Role NotesRef. 1970 Cowards Father Reis 1974 Throw Out the Anchor! Ryan Credited as "Phillip Hall" 1978 Coma Doctor1980 The Man with Bogart's Face Dr. Inman 1981 Dream On! 1982 The Last Reunion Mike Sills 1984 Secret Honor Richard Nixon 1986 Nothing in Common Colonial Airlines Executive Uncredited 1987 Three O'Clock High Detective Mulvahill 1988 Midnight Run Sidney 1989 Say Anything... IRS Boss How I Got into College Dean Patterson Ghostbusters II Police Commissioner An Innocent Man Judge Kenneth Lavet 1991 Blue Desert Joe 1992 Live Wire Senator Thyme 1993 Cigarettes & Coffee Sydney Short film 1994 The Last Laugh William T. 1995 Kiss of Death Big Junior Brown 1996 Eye for an Eye Sidney Hughes Hard Eight Sydney The Rock Chief Justice Uncredited The Little Death Detective Snyder Hit Me Lenny IshAKA The Ice Cream Dimension 1997 Buddy Minister Air Force One U.S. Attorney General Andrew Ward Boogie Nights Floyd Gondolli 1998 Sour Grapes Mr. Bell The Truman Show Network Executive Judas Kiss Pobby Malavero Rush Hour Captain Diel Enemy of the State Mark Silverberg, Attorney Uncredited Prequel Vaughn Psycho Sheriff Chambers 1999 Let the Devil Wear Black Sol Hirsch Cradle Will Rock Gray Mathers Implicated John Swayer The Insider Don Hewitt Magnolia Jimmy Gator The Talented Mr. Ripley Alvin MacCarron 2000 Rules of Engagement General H. Lawrence Hodges The Contender Oscar Billings Lost Souls Father James 2001 Rush Hour 2 Captain Diel Scenes deleted 2002 The Sum of All Fears Defense Secretary David Becker A Gentleman's Game Charlie Logan 2003 Die, Mommie, Die! Sol Sussman Dogville Tom Edison Sr. Bruce Almighty Jack Baylor A House on a Hill Harry Mayfield 2004 In Good Company Eugene Kalb 2005 The Matador Mr. Randy A Buck's Worth Voice; Short film Duck Arthur Pratt The Amityville Horror Father Callaway The Zodiac Chief Frank Perkins 2006 The Shaggy Dog Lance Strictland The TV Set Vernon Maxwell Islander Popper 2007 Zodiac Sherwood Morrill You Kill Me Roman Krzeminski Rush Hour 3 Captain William Diel Uncredited 2009 The Lodger Captain Smith Fired Up! Coach Byrnes Wonderful World The Man 2010 All Good Things Malvern Bump 2011 The Chicago 8 Judge Julius Hoffman Mr. Popper's Penguins Franklin 50/50 Alan Lombardo 2012 Bending the Rules Herb Gold People Like Us Ike Rafferty Departure Date Old Jake Dog Eat Dog Old man Short film Argo CIA Director Stansfield Turner Uncredited 2013 Bad Words Dr. William Bowman 2014 Playing It Cool Granddad 2017 Person to Person Jimmy The Last Word Edward Final film role 2018 Dear Chickens Emil Short film

Television