Peter Greene

Peter Greene
Greene in 2014
Born	Peter Green (1959-05-10)May 10, 1959 Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 12, 2025(2025-12-12) (aged 66) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–2025
Height	6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (189 cm)
Children	1[1]

Peter Green (May 10, 1959 – December 12, 2025), known professionally as Peter Greene, was an American actor. A character actor, he was generally known for portraying villains. He was best known for his roles in the 1994 films The Mask, in which he played the main antagonist Dorian Tyrell, and Pulp Fiction, where he portrayed Zed, a sadistic security guard.

Greene's other credits included Laws of Gravity (1992), Judgment Night (1993), Clean, Shaven (1994), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), and The Usual Suspects (1995). He later appeared in Kiss & Tell (1997), Blue Streak (1999), Training Day (2001), The Black Donnellys (2007), Life on Mars (2009), New York New York (2016), and The Continental (2023).

Peter Green was born on May 10, 1959, in Montclair, New Jersey,^[2] and was one of three siblings, with a brother and a sister.^[3] He ran away from home at the age of 15 and was homeless for a few years.^[4] He did not pursue a career in acting until his mid-20s.^[5] He initially landed several roles in cinema and television in the early 1990s.^[5]

Greene made his film debut in Laws of Gravity (1992).^[6] He had roles in Pulp Fiction,^[7] The Mask,^[7] and The Usual Suspects^[7] in 1994 and 1995. In Pulp Fiction, Greene appeared as Zed.^[7] The Mask saw him play the villainous Dorian Tyrell.^[7] The Usual Suspects saw him play the character of Redfoot.^[7] He played the schizophrenic Peter Winter in Clean, Shaven (1993).^[7] Greene often played villains, such as in Judgment Night (1993),^[7] Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995),^[7] The Rich Man's Wife (1996),^[7] Training Day (2001)^[7] (as a corrupt narcotics officer), and The Bounty Hunter (2010).^[7]

Greene worked with director Jordan Alan twice: once on the film Kiss & Tell (1997),^[7] a dark comic turn and then again four years later in The Gentleman Bandit (aka Gentleman B).^[7] After Greene's arrests in 1998 for drug related crimes, Alan had to put the actor through rehab to get him through the second film and eventually, after coming upon Greene doing heroin with Mike Starr, he was forced to replace Greene's voice because of the vocal problems caused by drugs. Despite these problems, Alan vouched for Greene to producer Tobe Jaffe for the movie Blue Streak,^[7] in which Greene played Martin Lawrence's nemesis.

Greene continued to work mostly as a character actor. He appeared in the short-lived television dramas The Black Donnellys^[7] and Life on Mars (2009).^[7] He also appeared as a policeman in Prodigy and Mobb Deep's video for "A,B,C's", as well as the focal character in House of Pain's video for "Fed Up".^[7] Greene appeared in the opening scene of the premiere of the FX series Justified where he was characterized as a "thuggish Peter Weller lookalike" by reviewer Scott Tobias, writing for The A.V. Club.^[8] His later roles included the film New York New York (2016)^[7] and the miniseries The Continental (2023).^[7] He appeared in two films by director Eric Brian Hughes: Turnabout (2016) and Exit 0 (2019). Greene appears in the digital series The Jersey Connection by filmmaker Tim Firtion.^[7] Greene was featured in the 2020 TV series For Life in a small role as an Aryan Brother named "Wild Bill" Miller.^[7]

By the time of his death, he had been given a role in an upcoming Mickey Rourke movie called Mascots, and was involved in at least two other projects.^[9]

Greene had one son.^[10] He struggled with heroin and cocaine addiction in the 1990s.^[11] He was arrested for possessing crack cocaine in 2007.^[11]

Greene died at his Lower East Side apartment in Manhattan, New York City, on December 12, 2025, at the age of 66.^[12] The neighbor who discovered Greene's body revealed to the New York Daily News that Greene was found "lying on the floor, face down, facial injury and blood".^[9] A note was also confirmed to be found where Greene claimed "I'm still a Westie."^[9] In February 2026, his cause of death was declared as an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to his armpit.^[13]

• Peter Greene at IMDb
• Peter Greene discography at Discogs