Pulp Fiction star Peter Greene‘s cause of death has been revealed in a coroner’s report over two months after the actor’s death in December 2025. Greene was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 60.
According to details obtained by PEOPLE, Greene died of a “gunshot wound of left axilla (armpit) with injury of brachial artery.” The New York City Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the actor’s death was an accident.” The initial reports of Greene’s death, including a statement from his manager, Gregg Edwards, confirmed the actor’s passing, but did not allude to a cause of death at the time.
Greene played a range of roles during his career, but was mostly known for playing villains in his biggest roles. His manager said, “Nobody played a bad guy better than Peter.” This is something that was echoed in many of the tributes paid to the actor from both fans and colleagues in the days after his death.
Among his most famous roles were menacing mob boss Dorian Tyrell in Jim Carrey’s comic book comedy The Mask, and Pulp Fiction security guard Zed, who with his brother kidnaps Marsellus Wallace. The actor’s ability to portray emotionless bad guys was exceptional, and made him a go-to choice when such villain roles were required.
Peter Greene Stars with Mickey Rourke in His Final Movie
Following Greene’s death, a new trailer was released for what will be his final lead role in 3 Days Rising, a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher which also stars Mickey Rourke, Ice-T, Vincent Young, and Kelly Monroe. While the story was recently adapted for Netflix by Mike Flanagan, this will be a completely different take on the Gothic story, the synopsis for this new take teases a new gruesome adaptation. The plot reads:
“3 Days Rising is a poetically mesmerizing psychological drama/suspense/horror/fantasy reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Living in self-imposed exile, Eric Usher (Peter Greene) battles his own conscience and reality itself as he must choose between his siblings, Rick & Cher, and his own salvation. Life and death consequences hinge on Eric’s resolve and sanity as he navigates a world filled with strange interlopers climaxing with an explosively violent twist ending reveal Poe himself would be proud of.”
3 Days Rising will be the feature directorial debut of Craig Cukrowski, and will serve as a bookend movie for Green’s career. Cukrowski was a friend of Greene’s for more than two decades, and previously speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that the actor was so different to the people he portrayed so well on screen.
“He’s the exact opposite of his screen persona. He’s a very warm, caring, emotional person and very generous. That’s the side of Peter that I always knew as his friend, and then it was a privilege to get to see the professional side of him, where he immerses himself completely in a character.”
The director added that Greene saw the final cut of the movie before his death, saying that the actor “oddly referred to it as the ultimate swan song, which I just blew off as Peter being Peter with hyperbole. He was very proud of the work.”
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
