Starting at 30 and peaking at 60, he built a case that patience is a better career strategy than ambition.
At a glance
- Known for
- Character actor in *Magnolia*, *Boogie Nights*, and *Seinfeld*'s library cop Lt. Bookman
- Before fame
- High school teacher and Army translator in Ohio and Germany
- Off-screen
- Kept acting into his late 80s despite depending on an oxygen tank
Rise to Fame
A one-man play about Richard Nixon doesn't sound like a career-making move, but Secret Honor earned him a Drama Desk nomination in 1983 and caught Robert Altman's eye. Altman directed the film version, which Roger Ebert called 'one of the most scathing, lacerating and brilliant movies of 1984.' He was 52 and still largely unknown.
The role that actually opened doors was Lt. Joe Bookman on Seinfeld in 1991, a library cop investigating an overdue book with the intensity of a homicide detective. He played it dead straight, modeled on Jack Webb's Sergeant Friday, and it became one of the show's most quoted guest appearances. Most actors don't get their big break at 60.
In the Spotlight
A volunteer PA on a PBS shoot in 1992 kept bringing him coffee between takes. Paul Thomas Anderson was barely in his twenties and already convinced character actors deserved leads. He cast Hall in Hard Eight, then Boogie Nights, then Magnolia, and the partnership earned two SAG ensemble nominations.
After that, he became the face directors called when a scene needed weight. Over 80 films, 200 television appearances across five decades. By 2017, he was 85 and dependent on an oxygen tank, but still had two films at Sundance. He could only shoot a few minutes at a time without it, and kept showing up anyway.
Side Notes
He spent his early twenties translating for the US Army in Germany and his late twenties teaching high school in Ohio. He didn't start acting until 30, didn't move to Los Angeles until 44, and even then chose stage work over screen time, doing Arthur Miller at the Los Angeles Theatre Center while everyone else chased auditions.
Larry David once said no other actor ever made him laugh more. That tracks for someone whose entire method was playing it completely straight while the material went sideways around him. He was the guy you recognized instantly and Googled immediately after.
Final Chapter
The official Seinfeld account called him 'the hard-nosed library detective, Mr. Bookman.' Michael McKean said three words: 'Never not good.' Patton Oswalt tweeted a Midnight Run reference. His neighbor, LA Times sportswriter Sam Farmer, announced the death, calling him one of the wisest, most talented and kindest people he'd met. His last screen role was a recurring part in the Netflix series Messiah in 2020.