Quick, who played Frankenstein's monster, co-starred in a science fiction film with Sean Connery, won an Emmy for his work on The X-Files, played Hunter S. Thompson's sidekick/lawyer eighteen years before Benicio Del Toro, and had John Lennon as the best man at his wedding? If you guessed "the coolest fucking guy in the world," you were almost right. It was none other than Peter Boyle, who succumbed to heart disease and multiple myeloma yesterday.
His was a career -- and a life -- that can only be descibed as "eclectic." Boyle spent three years as a monk, for example, before moving to New York City to take up acting. His screen credits are, well, all over the place. Highlights included Young Frankenstein, The Candidate, Medium Cool, Taxi Driver, Where the Buffalo Roam, Outland, Johnny Dangerously, Malcolm X, and Monster's Ball, but he was also in Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, Scooby Doo 2, and The Santa Clause 3. He made numerous TV appearances as well, including an Emmy-winning eponymous role in the great "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" episode of The X-Files (which was named the tenth-greatest television episode ever by TV Guide). Sadly, he will be remembered by most as the only good thing about Everybody Loves Raymond.
Bottom line, I was a big fan. Young Frankenstein was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Same with the criminally underrated Outland. So rest in peace, Mr. Boyle, and thanks for all the uncomfortable laughter.
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