Mark Margolis, the actor best known for playing Hector “Tio” Salamanca on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died.
According to reports, the star passed away Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness.
He was 83.
“He was one of a kind,” said manager Robert Kolker of Red Letter Entertainment, according to Deadline.
“We won’t see his likes again. He was a treasured client and a lifelong friend. I was lucky to know him.”
Margolis’ television career kicked off with a role on Guiding Light, but he went on to appear in countless projects.
The Equalizer, Oz, Kings, and FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum, Crossing Jordan, Californication, Person of Interest, Gotham, and The Affair are just some of the shows he appeared in.
He most recently played Carmine Conti on Showtime’s Your Honor, which recently wrapped its two-season run on the premium cabler.
The actor was probably most well known for his work on Breaking Bad, where he garnered an Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series nomination in 2012.
His arc on the Bryan Cranston drama kicked off in 2009, and he reprised the role in the Breaking Bad prequel series, Better Call Saul.
Margolis said he took his cues from his late mother-in-law, Shirley, to play the role.
“She was in a nursing home for many years in Florida, tragically, after suffering a stroke,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012.
“We used to visit her, and she couldn’t speak. But she’d get excited when we came in the room, and the left side of her mouth would always do these contortions where the lips would push out, almost like she was chewing tobacco.”
“So I kind of stole that from her. I always say the role is an homage to Shirley, who was actually a 1930s Earl Carroll Follies dancer.”
On the big screen, Margolis solidified himself as one of the greatest actors of his time for playing Alberto “The Shadow” in Scarface.
Additional movie credits include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Thomas Crown Affair, Requiem for a Dream, and Black Swan.
May Mark Margolis rest in peace.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
