Peter Crombie, the actor who was perhaps best known for playing the role of “Crazy” Joe Davola in five episodes of the hit television sitcom “Seinfeld,” died Wednesday at a health facility in Palm Springs, California. He was 71 years old.
Crombie was recovering from unspecified surgery, said his ex-wife Nadine Kijner, who confirmed his death.
In his role as Davola, Crombie played a feisty character who pursues Jerry – a semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld – and develops a deep hatred for him.
Tall and lanky, Crombie's figure had a flat, almost menacing demeanor and a fixed stare from 1,000 yards away. In the series, he also stalked strict New Yorker Elaine, in one case covering a wall of his apartment with black-and-white surveillance photos of her.
In addition to his role in “Seinfeld,” Crombie also had roles in the films “Seven” (1995), “Rising Sun” (1993) and “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), among other television and film appearances. .
Crombie was born on June 26, 1952 and grew up in a neighborhood outside of Chicago.
His father was an art teacher and his mother taught home economics, Ms. Kijner said. Crombie trained at the Yale School of Drama before moving to New York.
Crombie and Kijner met in Boston in the late 1980s before marrying in 1991. Although they divorced a few years later, the two remained friends.
“He was like a rock,” she said. “He was someone you could always call and rely on.”
Kijner said Crombie leaves behind a brother, Jim. She said Crombie retired from acting around 2000 and pursued his other passions, including writing.
Comedian Lewis Black paid tribute to Crombie on social media, calling him a “wonderful actor” and a “tremendously talented writer.”
“More importantly, he was as sweet as he was intelligent, and I am a better person for knowing him,” Mr. Black said wrote.
Larry Charles, a “Seinfeld” writer, also mourned Mr. Crombie.
“His portrayal of Joe Davola managed to seem simultaneously real and grounded, psychopathic, absurd and hilarious,” Charles wrote on social media. “That was a juxtaposition that I always looked for in my Seinfeld episodes, and it sort of reached its peak with 'The Opera.'” “Seinfeld” was a sitcom that could make you uncomfortable, and no guest actor represented that line better as Peter.”