Screenwriter and actor Stephen Hibbert died of a heart attack on March 2. He was either 65 or 68, depending on what sources one believes. The British-born Hibbert wrote for The Groundlings comedy troupe, Late Night with David Letterman, Animaniacs, Darkwing Duck, Mad TV, and Boy Meets World; he also wrote It’s Pat for his then-wife, national treasure Julia Sweeney. Hibbert played small roles in Pulp Fiction, Newhart, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Just Shoot Me!, The Cat in the Hat, and Rush Hour. Of his role as the kidnap victim in the gimp mask in Pulp Fiction, he said, “I played the scene as if the creeps who kept him had cut out his tongue. Quentin really liked that idea. The Gimp had been a prisoner there for a while. So he liked being in that situation, there was a Stockholm syndrome thing happening for the Gimp. Which is why I played it sort of giddy, pointing leeringly at Butch and prancing about. I think if I had played it all sullen and menacing, it wouldn't have been as creepy.”
