The 60-year-old actor was found dead in his apartment in New York on December 12. The head of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office classified Peter Greene’s death as “accidental.”
Peter Greene died from a “gunshot wound to the left armpit with injury to the brachial artery,” according to the institute. His death was confirmed on December 13 by Greene’s manager, Gregg Edwards.
Authorities were called to the actor’s apartment after a neighbor noticed that music had been playing there for more than 24 hours, according to NBC News.
“No one played a villain better than Peter,” Edwards said about his client. “But he also had, you know, a kind side that most people never saw, and a huge heart,” he added.
Peter Greene was best known for his role as Dorian Tyrell in “The Mask” and as the villain Zed in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.” Greene’s villains were marked by his expressive and unsettling eyes.
He also played a detective in “Training Day,” starring Denzel Washington.
The actor said in an interview with Sissy Gamache that he nearly turned down the role in “Pulp Fiction” because he felt the scene was too violent. Greene’s character would abuse Marsellus Wallace, played by Ving Rhames.
Peter Greene ultimately asked Tarantino to allow the scene to be improvised, “because the way it was written was simply brutal.” The director agreed, and the character ultimately took on more of the actor’s own personality.
+Watch one of Peter Greene’s iconic scenes in “Pulp Fiction”
Source and images: Netflix. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
