I was annoyed by today’s THR headline which read Philip Baker Hall, the Library Cop Lt. Bookman on ‘Seinfeld,’ Dies at 90. My mood was already in the dumpster after hearing that Hall had passed away, but that headline …
Sure, pedestrians will mostly remember Hall for playing dead-serious library cop Bookman, who went after Jerry for a copy of Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer” that was two decades overdue, but Hall was also one of the great character actors.
The bags under his doleful eyes, and the voice compared to sandpaper — those were his indelible traits. A mix of sadness, rage, and loneliness encompassed many of his characters. He was the face audiences recognized, but whose name they didn’t quite know.
Hall’s life changed when he met Paul Thomas Anderson on a PBS movie, where PTA worked as a production assistant. “He was a fan of my work, so how could I not like him?” Hall said. “We would talk, and have cigarettes and coffee.”
Anderson would later send Hall a script for a short film he wanted to shoot, the part specifically written for the actor. It was called “Cigarettes & Coffee.” This kickstarted a unique actor/director collaboration between which resulted in some of Hall’s greatest roles (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia).
Some of Hall’s best work could be also found in essentials such as Secret Honor, Midnight Run, Zodiac, The Truman Show, The Insider, and Dogville.
He had and astounding 175 film and television credits.