Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall
Hall at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Wonderful World
Born	(1931-09-10) September 10, 1931 (age 85) Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Other names	Phillip Hall, Phillip Baker Hall
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–present
Spouse(s)	Dianne Lewis (1973–1976; divorced) Holly Wolfle (?–present)
Children	2

Philip Baker Hall (born September 10, 1931) is an American actor. In film, Hall has portrayed the lead roles of President Richard Nixon in Robert Altman's Secret Honor (1984), Arthur Pratt in Duck (2005), and Sydney in Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight (1996), later collaborating with Anderson on Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). He is also known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Bookman, Library Cop on Seinfeld.

Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Alice Birdene (née McDonald) and William Alexander Hall, a factory worker who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a young man, Hall served in the military, had two children, and became a high school English teacher. In 1960, he decided to become an actor. He moved to New York, enjoying success in Off Broadway and Broadway productions. He now resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Holly and two daughters, Adella and Anna.

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, a one-man show in which he played the film's only role, Richard Nixon. Hall got his first high-profile film role when Paul Thomas Anderson wrote a role in his film Hard Eight, specifically for Hall. Hall went on to have roles in two of Anderson's 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 and he was uncredited for his scenes in Rush Hour 3).