Peter Greene, Pulp Fiction and The Mask villain, dies at 60
The actor also appeared in “The Usual Suspects,” “Training Day,” and “Justified.”
Peter Greene, Pulp Fiction and The Mask villain, dies at 60
The actor also appeared in "The Usual Suspects," "Training Day," and "Justified."
By Wesley Stenzel
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Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.
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December 13, 2025 11:54 a.m. ET
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Peter Greene in 1994's 'The Mask'. Credit:
New Line Cinema / courtesy Everett Collection
Peter Greene, the character actor who appeared in major '90s films like *Pulp Fiction* and *The Mask*, has died.
Greene died at 60 in his Manhattan apartment on Friday, the actor's manager, Gregg Edwards, confirmed in a statement obtained by **. A cause of death was not provided.
Edwards told NBC News that he spoke with Greene earlier this week and that someone requested a wellness check on him after reports that music had been playing in the actor's apartment for more than 24 hours straight.
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Peter Greene on the set of 'Lowball' at Arturo's Coal Oven Restaurant and Pizzeria in New York City in 1994.
Al Pereira/Getty
Born in Montclair, N.J., in 1965, Greene began acting in his mid-20s, making his screen debut in a 1990 episode of *Hardball*. His first film, 1992's crime drama *Laws of Gravity*, cast him in the lead role opposite Edie Falco. The movie also featured a score by the Police alum Stewart Copeland.
In 1993, Greene played a supporting role in *Judgment Night*, the action film starring Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis Leary, Stephen Dorff, and Jeremy Piven. That same year, he led the drama *Clean, Shaven*.
Greene played memorable villains in two of the most seminal films of the decade in 1994. In Quentin Tarantino's *Pulp Fiction*, he portrayed Zed, one of two thugs who rapes Ving Rhames' Marsellus Wallace in the basement of a pawn shop before Bruce Willis' Butch shoots him in the crotch.
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Peter Greene in 'Pulp Fiction'.
The actor also played Dorian Tyrell, the main antagonist in the movie *The Mask*, a mobster who overthrows his boss Niko (Orestes Matacena) and clashes with Jim Carrey's titular protagonist. While donning the mystical Mask, Greene's character was played by Garret T. Sato and wrestler Jeep Swenson.
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The following year, Greene played the uncredited minor character Redfoot the Fence in the Oscar-winning crime thriller *The Usual Suspects*, portrayed a mercenary in the Steven Seagal action sequel *Under Siege 2: Dark Territory*, and headlined the action movie *Bang* opposite Lucy Liu.
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Peter Greene in 2018.
Roy Rochlin/Getty
Greene appeared in more than 60 movies following that early run, including the Martin Lawrence comedy *Blue Streak*, the Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke crime drama *Training Day*, and the Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler rom-com *The Bounty Hunter*. He teamed up with Hawke again in 2020 for the biopic *Tesla*.
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The actor was also a series regular on the short-lived NBC drama *The Black Donnellys* and appeared in the opening scene of the FX Western *Justified*. He was a recurring cast member on shows like ABC's *Life on Mars*, NBC's *Chicago P.D.*, CMT's *Still the King*, and ABC's *For Life*. He also appeared in episodes of shows like *Law & Order*, *Hawaii Five-0*, and the *John Wick* spinoff series *The Continental*.
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