Philip Baker Hall
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| Philip Baker Hall | |
 Hall at the 2009 premiere of Wonderful World |
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| Born | September 10, 1931 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1961–present |
Philip Baker Hall (born September 10, 1931) is an American actor.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio and attended the University of Toledo.[1] As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor. He moved to New York, enjoying success in Off Broadway and Broadway productions.
[edit] Career
In 1975, Hall moved to Los Angeles to make a career in television. Since then, he has had over 200 guest roles on television shows.
He starred in many films, including Robert Altman's Secret Honor in which he played the film's only role, Richard Nixon, but the film — though critically acclaimed — went largely unseen. It was not until Paul Thomas Anderson wrote a role in his film Hard Eight, specifically for Hall, that a cult following arose. (Anderson was a big fan of Hall's work, particularly Secret Honor. He has many times referred to him as his favorite actor and called him 'THE great American actor' on the Hard Eight DVD commentary.) Hall went on to have significant roles in Anderson's two subsequent films, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. He also had a minor role as Captain Diel in the Rush Hour trilogy (though his scenes were cut from the theatrical release of Rush Hour 2).
Additionally, Hall has had roles in Ghostbusters II, Say Anything, The Rock, The Truman Show, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Bruce Almighty, You Kill Me, In Good Company, Dogville, The Amityville Horror, The Matador, The Sum of All Fears, The Zodiac and Zodiac. More recently, he played a recurring role in the 2006–07 FOX sitcom The Loop and had a guest starring role in The West Wing.
Hall is well known to Seinfeld fans as Lt. Joe Bookman, the 'library cop' who tracks down Jerry for a long-overdue library book in "The Library". He reprised the role in the May 1998 finale where his character is one of many to testify against Jerry. More recently he appeared as a doctor on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Hall also appears in a series of humorous Holiday Inn commercials.
