Philip Baker Hall death: Magnolia and Modern Family actor dies, aged 90

Hollywood star Philip Baker Hall has died, aged 90.

The news was announced by his friend and neighbour Sam Farmer on Monday (13 June).

In a tweet, Los Angeles Times sports writer Farmer wrote: “My neighbour, 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.”

A cause of death was not given, though, the actor suffered from emphysema, partly as a result of contracting pneumonia as a child, and could only film for a few minutes at a time towards the end of his career.

Hall had a prolific career as a character actor in Hollywood, boasting 185 film and TV credits, according to IMDb. He is known for his work with Paul Thomas Anderson in Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), and for a turn in Seinfeld as scene-stealing library cop Lieutenant Bookman.

Tributes instantly poured in for the actor following the news of his death. Better Call Saul star Michael McKean tweeted: “Never not good. RIP, Philip Baker Hall.”

“I hope he’s in heaven having a sandwich, drinking a glass of milk, doing some f***in’ thing,” comedian and actor Patton Oswalt wrote.

Writer/filmmaker Jesse Hawken wrote: “RIP to the great Philip Baker Hall, another ‘Always Good In Everything’ character actor.”

“He has a basset-hound look, a gravitas and weight,” actor John C Reilly, who starred with Hall in Anderson’s Hard Eight in 1996, told The Washington Post in 2017.

“Philip has made me laugh harder than any actor I’ve worked with,” Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who hired Hall repeatedly, told the publication.

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