Actor From Attempts Suicide

Actor Daniel von Bargen, who is best known for roles on Seinfeld and Malcolm in the Middle and has appeared in several gay-related projects, is in critical condition in an Ohio hospital after an apparent suicide attempt.

Von Bargen shot himself in the head at his suburban Cincinnati apartment last week, the Associated Press reports. Police say he told a 911 dispatcher that he was depressed over a scheduled amputation of several toes due to diabetes complications.

A Cincinnati native, von Bargen played Mr. Kruger, George Costanza’s incompetent boss at Kruger Industries, on Seinfeld in 1997 and 1998. On Malcolm in the Middle, he was cast as Edwin Spangler, commandant of a military school attended by Malcolm’s brother Francis. One fan website describes Spangler as being “intrigued by the gay rodeo” when it comes to town.

Von Bargen also portrayed Clyde Tolson, J. Edgar Hoover’s purported lover, in the TV movie Citizen Cohn, about closeted gay conservative Roy Cohn; the jury foreman in Philadelphia; and a police officer in Basic Instinct, among many other roles.