Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Mark Margolis has died at 83. The actor died today at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City after an illness. He will be remembered for his various roles from over 160 credits, often playing powerful criminals, from the Bryan Cranston-led series to HBO’s Oz.
The actor’s best-known role was Hector Salamanca in the two Vince Gilligan-created series. The drug lord was introduced as a silent, elderly man in a wheelchair with a bell attached. He seemed like a small character but was expanded with a bigger role that factored into the Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) story arc. In the prequel series that focused on Bob Odenkirk’s character, we got even more of not just Hector but the whole Salamanca crime family.
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul Actor Mark Margolis Died: A Life of Success and Family
Born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1939, Mark was the son of Fanya and Isidore Margolis. He attended Temple University and then moved to New York, which became his new home where he studied acting. He learned from Stella Adler at the Actors’ Studio and then from Lee Strasberg and Barbara Loden.
Mark Margolis has had plenty of notable roles and projects to keep his memory alive now that he has died. The ’80s were when he gained that momentum, as when he played the henchman Shadow in Scarface. A decade later, after consistently expanding his career, he starred with Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. While he had plenty of TV roles, he made a big splash as the mob boss Antonio Nappa in Oz. In 1998’s Pi, he became a go-to actor for Darren Aronofsky, starring in the director’s films: Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and Noah.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jacqueline Margolis, and their only child, Morgan Margolis and his wife, Heide Margolis. The two parents received three grandchildren, Ben, Aidan, and Henry Margolis. The actor also has a brother, Jerome.
