He appeared in many roles at the Globe, notably as Feste in Twelfth Night and Hamlet, as well as video productions of Shakespeare's Richard II and Othello. His film appearances include Blow Job (1964), The Omega Man (1971), The Enforcer (1976) and the TV movie Evita Peron (1981) co-starring Faye Dunaway, as well as numerous appearances on the soap operas Ryan's Hope and Another World.
Bookwalter died on July 23, 1987 of stomach cancer at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City, leaving behind his wife, actress Ruth Kidder and his son, County Wilder Bookwalter.