Seinfeld star Philip Baker Hall dead at 90

Philip Baker Hall - a beloved star of the 90s sitcom - has passed away at the age of 90, with his friend describing the “empty space” left behind.

Philip Baker Hall, the beloved Hard Eight and Seinfeld star, has died as tributes pour in for the “Lieutenant Bookman” actor.

Hall’s death was announced by Los Angeles Times sports writer Sam Farmer, who said the actor passed away peacefully on Sunday, according to The Sun.

“My neighbour, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented and kindest people I’ve ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night,” Farmer shared on Twitter.

“He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it.”

My neighbor, friend, and one of the wisest, most talented and kindest people I’ve ever met, Philip Baker Hall, died peacefully last night. He was surrounded by loved ones. The world has an empty space in it. pic.twitter.com/pBCaILjHPT

— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) June 13, 2022

A cause of death was not provided.

A prolific actor, Hall starred in several films such as Say Anything …, Secret Honor, Hard Eight, Duck, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Bruce Almighty, In Good Company, The Amityville Horror, and The Matador, among others.

Among his most famous roles was his portrayal of Lt Joe Bookman in season three of the ‘90s sitcom classic Seinfeld.

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Philip Baker Hall with Jerry Seinfeld.

In the episode, Bookman works as a library cop dealing with library offenders and tracks down Jerry Seinfeld for an overdue book he claims the comedian has failed to return since 1971.

His dedication to his job and his coincidental surname are cause for Jerry’s dismissive attitude towards him.

RIP ‘Lt Bookman’

The West Wing actor Bradley Whitford lauded him as “a great actor and a profoundly kind human being” on Twitter, while Curb Your Enthusiasm director Greg Mottola called him a “fantastic actor, a lovely man, and nobody made Larry David break on camera as much as Phil.”

Hundreds of fans on social media also paid their respects to the beloved actor after the news of his death broke.

Philip Baker Hall as Bookman on Seinfeld was perfection. The second best thing about this clip is watching Jerry try his best not to laugh pic.twitter.com/M3CsxYZawh

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) June 13, 2022

“Philip Baker Hall had one of the funniest scenes ever in the entire run of Seinfeld. Arguably funnier than anything any of the cast members ever did. And it was because of how he sold the scene. Utterly brilliant. Peepees and weewees, joy boy,” one fan shared.

A second fan wrote: “Philip Baker Hall just passed away. For Seinfeld fans, he was Lieutenant Bookman, the library cop, and was responsible for one of the great defences of libraries in history: ‘Maybe we can live without libraries, people like you and me.’

“May his memory be a blessing.”

Another person tweeted: “RIP Philip Baker Hall. An incredible actor in so many things, and I’ll always remember him for one of greatest, if not the greatest, sitcom performances of all time as the Library Cop in Seinfeld.”

Hall was 90. He is survived by his wife, Holly Wolfle, and their two daughters, Adella and Ann.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.