'Pulp Fiction's The Gimp, Stephen Hibbert, Dead at 68

Writer and actor Stephen Hibbert -- whose best-known role was The Gimp in 1994's "Pulp Fiction" -- has died, TMZ has learned.

A family member tells TMZ ... Hibbert died of a heart attack in Denver, Colorado on Monday, March 2. He was 68.

His children Ronnie, Rosalind and Greg said … "Our father, Stephen Hibbert, passed away unexpectedly this week. His life was full of love and dedication to the arts and his family. He will be dearly missed by many."

Hibbert was born in Fleetwood, England. He began writing for television in the 1980s, starting with "Late Night With David Letterman," going on to pen multiple animated children's TV shows in the 1990s. He also wrote for "Mad TV," "Boy Meets World" … he wrote the 1994 film "It's Pat: The Movie," starring Julia Sweeney.

He went on to appear on the big screen, playing a guard in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," and played a minor character in "The Cat in the Hat" -- both Mike Myers flicks. He also taught improv at Chaos Bloom Theater in Denver and a film theory course at Denver School of the Arts.

But Hibbert's most memorable role was his part as The Gimp -- a character Bruce Willis' Butch runs into in the basement of an L.A. pawn shop … inexplicably clad in a latex rubber bodysuit, complete with a zippered hood mask, shackled with a chain. He had no lines, other than some grunting. Peter Greene -- who recently died after accidentally shooting himself -- also appeared in the scene.

Stephen Hibbert was 68.