Dr. Kroger From Monk Dies :(

[Hobo]

Stanley Kamel's face was as familiar as his credit list was long.

The ever-employed character actor, late of Monk, where he played the skittish detective's patient psychiatrist, was found dead of a heart attack Tuesday at his Hollywood Hills home, his reps said.

He was 65.

Just last week, Kamel appeared in Los Angeles at a promotional event for USA, Monk's network home. Kamel's Dr. Charles Kroger was a recurring character on the hit cable series.

In a statement, the network said it was "deeply saddened" by his passing.

"Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family," the network said. "He will be sorely missed."

Born Jan. 1, 1943, in New Jersey, Kamel was a veteran of the New York stage. He began working in TV in the 1970s, and virtually never stopped. It would almost be easier to list the shows he wasn't on. His résumé included stops at Mission: Impossible; Charlie's Angels; Three's Company; the original Knight Rider; Hill Street Blues; Star Trek: The Next Generation; Cagney & Lacey; Murder, She Wrote; The Golden Girls; ER; The Nanny; 7th Heaven; NYPD Blue and The West Wing.

His most memorable stints included a starring run in the 1970s on daytime soap Days of Our Lives; a turn as mobster Tony Marchette, Dylan McKay's very, very bad father-in-law, on Beverly Hills 90210; and a role as a lawyer with AIDS on L.A. Law.

In a video interview for USA's website, Kamel said the latter was among his favorite roles.

"It was an extraordinary—I don't want to say job—opportunity because as an actor. Of course, I got to go to some very deep places that actors don't always get to go," Kamel said. "But I also think it was very important because no one had seen at that time a character have AIDS."

[Fitzy]

He was a good actor. I really only know him from Monk, but he played his role very well on the show.

I wonder how they will explain this on Monk. It's going to obviously have a huge effect on Monk since he relied on Dr. Kroger. He won't like going to another psychiatrist I am sure.