( CNN ) Daniel von Bargen , the talented character actor perhaps best known for playing George Costanza 's imbecilic boss Mr. Kruger during the last season of `` Seinfeld , '' has died . He was 64 . Von Bargen , who also stood out as Commandant Edwin Spangler on the ABC sitcom `` Malcolm in the Middle , '' died Sunday after a long illness , his friend , actor Bob Colonna , said . Cincinnati TV station WLWT also reported the news . Other details of his death were not known . In February 2012 , von Bargen was seriously injured when he shot himself in the temple in an apparent suicide attempt , distraught because he had been battling diabetes and was set to have two toes removed . The versatile von Bargen rose from the dead as the satanic Nix in the Clive Barker horror film `` Lord of Illusions '' ( 1995 ) ; played a futuristic sheriff in `` The Postman '' ( 1997 ) , directed by and starring Kevin Costner ; and portrayed a Southern lawman who pursued George Clooney 's character in the Coen brothers ' `` O Brother , Where Art Thou ? '' ( 2000 ) . The Hollywood Reporter : Bruce Sinofsky , Oscar-nominated director , dies at 58 . An expert at playing authority figures , von Bargen was a member of the Air Force on NBC 's `` The West Wing '' and in the 1996 film `` Broken Arrow , '' a SWAT communicator in `` The Silence of the Lambs '' ( 1991 ) , a cop in `` Basic Instinct '' ( 1992 ) and `` Super Troopers '' ( 2001 ) , a secret service agent in `` I.Q . '' ( 1994 ) , a warden in Steven Spielberg 's `` Amistad '' ( 1997 ) and a federal agent in `` The Majestic '' ( 2001 ) . The Hollywood Reporter : Leonard Nimoy called `` irreplaceable '' by Tom Selleck . His film résumé includes the notable films `` Company Business '' ( 1991 ) , Woody Allen 's `` Shadows and Fog '' ( 1991 ) , Jonathan Demme 's `` Philadelphia '' ( 1993 ) , `` RoboCop 3 '' ( 1993 ) , `` Crimson Tide '' ( 1995 ) , `` Looking for Richard '' ( 1996 ) and `` Snow Falling on Cedars '' ( 1999 ) . He also guest-starred on such TV shows as `` Spenser : For Hire , '' `` All My Children , '' `` NYPD Blue , '' `` The X-Files '' and `` The Practice . '' A native of Cincinnati who graduated from Purdue University , von Bargen joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company in Providence , Rhode Island , after college . He appeared in a David Mamet production of `` Uncle Vanya '' opposite Christopher Walken , then attracted Hollywood 's eye in 1989 when he played Maj. Manley Battle in the Larry Gelbart satire `` Mastergate '' on Broadway . The Hollywood Reporter : Hollywood 's 100 favorite films . On `` Seinfeld , '' his Mr. Kruger was the incompetent owner of Kruger Industrial Smoothing ( a company that tried and failed to remove the green tint from the Statue of Liberty ) and the boss of George ( Jason Alexander ) — by then finished with the Yankees — in Season 9 of the NBC hit . And on `` Malcolm in the Middle , '' von Bargen played the hard-nosed , eyepatch-wearing Spangler , the head of cadets at Marlin Academy . He clashed often with the troublemaking Francis ( Christopher Masterson ) , the oldest of Malcolm 's ( Frankie Muniz ) brothers . In 2013 , von Bargen starred in `` The Treatment '' at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York . `` I feel a huge wave of sorrow and relief at the passing of this remarkable man , '' Colonna said . `` I treasure the years when I worked with him at Trinity Rep and in a couple of TV films . I admire his excellent body of work in the movies . And I mourn for the darkness and pain that were his final years . God bless him . He was a hell of a guy . '' People we 've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter . All rights reserved .
Character actor Daniel von Bargen has died at the age of 64 . He played George 's boss Mr. Kruger on `` Seinfeld '' He was Commandant Edwin Spangler on `` Malcolm in the Middle ''