NEW YORK, N.Y. — Character actor Peter Greene, best known for his indelible roles as menacing villains in iconic 1990s films such as Pulp Fiction and The Mask, has died. He was 60.
Greene was found dead in his apartment in New York City on Friday, December 12, according to his manager and close friend, Gregg Edwards. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed, though police reportedly do not suspect foul play.
A master of chilling on-screen antagonism, Greene cemented his legacy with two unforgettable performances in 1994. In Quentin Tarantino’s classic Pulp Fiction, he played the sadistic security guard Zed. That same year, he starred opposite Jim Carrey in the superhero comedy The Mask as the main antagonist, Dorian Tyrell, a mid-level gangster.
"Nobody played a bad guy better than Peter," Edwards told multiple news outlets, reflecting on the actor's fierce screen presence. However, he emphasized that off-screen, Greene was "one of the best character actors on the planet" and had a "gentle side that most people never saw, and a heart as big as gold."
Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Greene trained at the Lee Strasberg studio in New York, launching his career in the early 1990s. Beyond his most famous roles, his filmography includes critically acclaimed performances, such as his starring role in the 1993 drama Clean, Shaven, for which he won the Best Actor prize at the Taormina film festival. He also had notable parts in The Usual Suspects (1995), Judgment Night (1993), Blue Streak (1999), and Training Day (2001).
Greene continued to work steadily up until his death. He recently appeared in the 2023 John Wick prequel series The Continental and was scheduled to begin filming the thriller Mascots with Mickey Rourke in January. He was also co-narrating an in-progress documentary, From the American People: The Withdrawal of USAID.
The actor is survived by his brother and sister.