'Monk' shrink found dead

Stanley Kamel, who played Adrian Monk’s long-suffering psychiatrist on the television detective show Monk, was found dead by his agents on Tuesday at his home in Hollywood Hills. He was 65. The cause was a heart attack, his publicist Cynthia Snyder said in a statement.

Mr. Kamel was born on Jan. 1, 1943, in New Jersey and worked as an actor for nearly four decades, mostly in television. He had a recurring role as an unscrupulous psychiatrist, Dr. Graham Lester, in the 1995 television series Murder One and other recurring roles on Days of Our Lives, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210, as well as smaller roles on many other shows.

Mr. Kamel began acting off Broadway and received his first substantial television role playing Eric Peters on Days of Our Lives in the 1970s. He also appeared in several movies. For several years he portrayed Dr. Charles Kroger on the USA Network series Monk. As Dr. Kroger he dispensed advice during weekly sessions with Monk (Tony Shalhoub), a brilliant but neurotic private detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel's passing," the network said in a statement. Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family. He will be sorely missed."

Mr. Kamel is survived by his brothers, Stephen and Robert.