Peter Greene

Peter Greene (né Green; October 8, 1965 – December 2025) 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), 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).

Early life

Greene was born on October 8, 1965 in Montclair, New Jersey, and was one of three siblings, with a brother and a sister. He ran away from home at the age of 15 and was homeless for a few years. He did not pursue a career in acting until his mid-20s. He initially landed several roles in cinema and television in the early 1990s.

Career

Greene had roles in Pulp Fiction, The Mask, Clean, Shaven and The Usual Suspects in 1994 and 1995. In Pulp Fiction, Greene appeared as Zed. The Mask saw him play the villainous Dorian Tyrell. Greene played the schizophrenic Peter Winter in Clean, Shaven. The Usual Suspects saw him play the character of Redfoot. Greene often played villains, such as in Judgment Night, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Training Day (as a corrupt narcotics officer), and The Bounty Hunter.

Greene worked with director Jordan Alan twice: once on the film Kiss & Tell (1997),[5] a dark comic turn and then again four years later in The Gentleman Bandit (aka Gentleman B).[5] 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, in which Greene played Martin Lawrence's nemesis.

Greene continued to work mostly as a character actor. He appeared in the short-lived television drama The Black Donnellys. 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". 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. He appears in two films by director Eric Brian Hughes: Turnabout and Exit 0. Greene appears in the digital series The Jersey Connection by filmmaker Tim Firtion. Greene was featured in the 2020 TV series For Life in a small role as an Aryan Brother named "Wild Bill" Miller.

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.

Personal life and death

Greene struggled with heroin and cocaine addiction in the 1990s. He was arrested for possessing crack cocaine in 2007.

Greene was found dead in his Lower East Side apartment in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, on December 12, 2025. He was 60.