Pulp Fiction and The Mask Villain Peter Greene Dead at 60

Peter Greene, the face you instantly remember from 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Mask,' has died. He was 60. Tough one. Few actors could chill a room the way he did, and he did it without blinking.

What happened

Greene was found dead in his Lower East Side apartment in New York City on Friday, Dec. 12, according to his manager, Gregg Edwards. The New York Daily News was first to report the news.

Per Edwards, people in the building heard music coming from Greene's place for more than 24 hours, which led to a wellness check. Edwards also said he had spoken with Greene earlier in the week. Cause of death is still unknown.

"Nobody played a bad guy better than Peter," Edwards told NBC News, adding that the side most people did not see was the gentle one, with a big heart.

Why you know him

Greene got his start on TV in 1990 with a guest spot on NBC's crime drama 'Hardball' and broke through in 1992 with Nick Gomez's gritty indie 'Laws of Gravity,' starring alongside Edie Falco. But the roles that made him a staple on every 'great movie villains' list are these:

• 'Pulp Fiction' (1994): Greene plays Zed, the sadistic security guard who turns a pawn shop basement into a nightmare. For the trivia crowd: fans have long debated how exactly Zed is connected to the shop's owner, Maynard.
• 'The Mask' (1994): As Dorian Tyrell, a mob enforcer who wrestles the enchanted mask away in the finale and morphs into an even nastier, larger-than-life version of himself. He is the movie's sharpest edge opposite Jim Carrey and a breakout Cameron Diaz.
• Other standouts: 'Clean, Shaven' (1993), 'The Usual Suspects' (1995), 'Blue Streak' (1999), 'Training Day' (2001) with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, and 'The Bounty Hunter' (2010).

Remembering Peter Greene

Edwards also told Deadline that Greene was one of the strongest character actors around and the kind of friend who would literally give you the shirt off his back. By all accounts, he was loved, and he will be missed.