Peter Crombie, the actor who was probably best known for playing the role of "Crazy" Joe Davola on five episodes of "Seinfeld," died Wednesday in a health care facility in Palm Springs, California. He was 71.
Crombie had been recovering from unspecified surgery, said his ex-wife, Nadine Kijner, who confirmed his death.
In his role as Davola, Crombie played a temperamental character who stalks Jerry — the hit television sitcom's semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld — and develops a deep hatred of him.
Tall and lanky, Crombie's character had a flat, borderline menacing effect and an unblinking 1,000-yard stare. In the series, he also stalked the tough New Yorker character Elaine, in one case plastering a wall of his apartment with black-and-white surveillance photos of her.
Aside from his part in "Seinfeld," Crombie also had roles in the movies "Se7en" (1995), "Rising Sun" (1993) and "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), among other acting television and movie credits.
Crombie was born June 26, 1952, and grew up in a neighborhood outside of Chicago.
His father was an art teacher, and his mother taught home economics, 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.
