NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Mark Margolis, the veteran actor best known his portrayal of Hector “Tio” Salamanca in the TV series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died. He was 83.
According to a statement from a publicist representing his family, Margolis passed away on August 3rd at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York after a short illness. Additional details about a cause of death were not available.
A native of Philadelphia, studied the craft of acting first under Stella Adler at the Actors Studio and subsequently with Lee Strasberg and Barbara Loden.
His breakout role came in 1983 when he was cast as “The Shadow” in the Al Pacino film “Scarface” but he also had roles in films such as Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Wrestler (2008), and Black Swan (2010), among numerous others.
Margolis was active in the lively arts as well, and he founded the touring theater company Blue Dome, which performed avant-garde productions, including Antonin Artaud’s The Conquest of Mexico, at colleges and universities across the United States.\
His theatrical roles included Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2014.
Margolis is likely best known for his portrayal of the sinister drug lord Hector “Tio” Salamanca in the television series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, a role which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2012.
“He was one of a kind. We won’t see his likes again. He was a treasured client and a lifelong friend. I was lucky to know him,” stated Robert Kolker of Red Letter Entertainment, his manager since 2007.
He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Margolis of Far Rockway, New York, his son Morgan Margolis, CEO of Knitting Factory Entertainment, his wife Heide Margolis, and their three sons Ben, Aidan, and Henry Margolis. He is also survived by his brother and his wife, Jerome and Ann Margolis.
The family plans to have a private memorial and funeral and in lieu of flowers, suggested donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
