Peter Crombie, best known for playing “Crazy” Joe Davola on Seinfeld, has died. He was 71.
According to Variety, Crombie died Wednesday morning after an intestinal illness. TMZ was first to report that the actor had died. Crombie’s ex-wife, Nadine Kijner, confirmed the news on her Instagram page with a carousel post featuring photos from their wedding day.
“It is with shock and extreme sadness that I share my Ex-husband died this morning,” she captioned her post. “Thank you for so many wonderful memories and being such a good man. Fly free into the Un-boundless source of light, Peter. May you be greeted with love by your parents, and Oliver 🐈⬛. So so many people loved you because you were a kind, giving, caring and creative Soul.”
Crombie had a number of TV credits to his name, including NYPD Blue, Walker, Texas Ranger, House of Frankenstein, Law & Order and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appeared in the films such as The Doors, The Blob and Natural Born Killers, among others.
But the actor is best remembered for portraying “Crazy” Joe Davola on the hit NBC sitcom. Davola, a writer who suffers from mental instability and aggressive behavior, antagonizes Jerry Seinfeld in season 4, particularly in “The Opera” episode.
In that episode, Davola leaves a disturbing, albeit hilarious, voicemail on Seinfeld’s answering machine threatening to derail his NBC deal.
“Jerry, Joe Davola. [Spits] I have a hair on my tongue. Can’t get it off. You know how much I hate that?” he says. “Of course you do. You put it there. I know what you said about me, Seinfeld. I know you badmouthed me to the execs at NBC. Put the kibosh on my deal. Now I’m gonna put the kibosh on you. You know I’ve kiboshed before. And I will kibosh again.”
Meanwhile, Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gets a taste of Davola’s dark side when she pays a surprise visit to his apartment, where she’s ultimately forced to pepper spray him after realizing he’s dangerously obsessed with her. Kramer (Michael Richards) is also frightened silent after coming face to face with Davola, who is dressed as a clown and covered in white makeup. Kramer’s deathly scared of clowns.
Crombie’s death comes nearly nine months after Seinfeld’s TV mom, Liz Sheridan, died. She was 93. Seinfeld paid tribute to her with a sweet black and white photo of her and him on the set of his sitcom.
“Liz was always the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for,” Seinfeld tweeted at the time. “Every time she came on our show it was the coziest feeling for me. So lucky to have known her.”
