RIP: ‘Monk’ Co-Star Stanley Kamel
April 10, 2008 by Chandra
On Tuesday, April 8, Monk co-star Stanley Kamel passed away due to an apparent heart attack. According to Access Hollywood, the 65-year-old New Jersey native was found in his California home.
Kamel portrayed Dr. Charles Kroger, the psychiatrist of OCD sufferer Adrian Monk, on the hit USA crime dramedy. He entertained fans as that character from the very beginning of the series in 2002, providing a perfect calm and rational counterpoint to Tony Shalhoub’s neurotic and obsessive detective. Kamel also appeared in numerous roles on other television series, including Murder One; Beverly Hills, 90210; Melrose Place; L.A. Law; Cagney & Lacey; and Hill Street Blues.
USA released a statement saying, “USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel’s passing. Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family. He will be sorely missed.”
Kamel’s absence from the dramedy will be very noticeable, especially among Monk fans who’ve become accustomed to his welcome presence each season. USA has a number of video interviews with the actor available on the Monk website, however. In them, he answers questions about topics ranging from his favorite episode of the series to the breakthrough that Dr. Kroger would most like to see Adrian experience.
Take a look at those revealing Q&A sessions at the Stanley Kamel Video Interviews webpage.
That’s so sad. I love Monk. He and Tony Shaloub had great timing together.
How sad! I wonder what the writers of Monk will do now. They could really make Monk crazy over this. Or maybe he’ll have a breakthrough?
I agree with both of you — this news is really sad. Kamel was a major part of almost every single episode because Monk relies on Dr. Kroger so much to help stay sane.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how the writers handle it. They have a while to get everything right, though, since I believe the summer run has already finished filming.
Still, it would be unbelievably satisfying if Monk had a breakthrough big enough to get him back on the police force, especially if the next season is the last one, like many have speculated.