Stanley Kamel

Stanley Kamel (January 1, 1943 – April 8, 2008) was an American actor born into a Jewish family and raised in South River, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers Preparatory School before enrolling at Boston University, where he earned a BFA in 1965. Though database records list his origins as New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kamel spent his formative years in the nearby community of South River.

Kamel launched his acting career off-Broadway before transitioning to television work beginning in 1968. His first sustained television role came on Days of Our Lives, where he appeared from 1972 to 1976 as Eric Peters, becoming the second actor to portray that character. Over the following decades he accumulated episodic appearances across a wide range of series, including The Mod Squad, Barney Miller, Kojak, Lou Grant, Quincy M.E., Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, L.A. Law, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Hooperman, Father Dowling Mysteries, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Nanny, and The Lazarus Man.

In 1978, Kamel made his Broadway debut in Platinum. His television work continued to expand into recurring roles, including Bruce Teller on Melrose Place in 1994, a character identified as the CEO of D&D Advertising. During the early portion of the sixth season of Beverly Hills, 90210, he appeared in multiple episodes as Anthony Marchette, an organized crime figure.

Kamel is perhaps best remembered for his role as Dr. Charles Kroger on the USA Network series Monk, which he held from 2002 until his death in 2008. The character served as the psychiatrist to the series' lead, Adrian Monk, played by Tony Shalhoub. His final on-screen appearance came during the sixth season of the show, though footage of his character was incorporated into the series finale. The seventh season premiere, "Mr. Monk Buys a House," was dedicated to his memory and included a plot point in which Dr. Kroger's character dies of a heart attack. The episode concluded with a close-up of a photograph of Kamel in character, displayed on Monk's fireplace mantle.

Kamel never married and had no children. He died on April 8, 2008, of a heart attack at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 65 years old.