Mark Margolis Dies: Emmy-Nominated ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Better Call Saul’ Actor Was 83

Mark Margolis, a veteran actor with hundreds of credits dating back to the 1970s but perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of cartel don Hector “Tio” Salamanca on TV’s Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness. He was 83.

His death was announced by son Morgan Margolis, the CEO of Knitting Factory Entertainment. Morgan Margolis said he and Mark’s wife Jacqueline were at his bedside at the time of death.

“He was one of a kind,” said manager Robert Kolker of Red Letter Entertainment. “We won’t see his likes again. He was a treasured client and a lifelong friend. I was lucky to know him.”

Born on November 26, 1939 in Philadelphia, Margolis briefly attended Temple University before moving to New York City to study acting, first under Stella Adler at the Actors Studio and subsequently with Lee Strasberg and Barbara Loden.

Margolis, who credited Adler as a “larger than life” influence on his work, launched his career on stage, including the 1962 Broadway production of Infidel Caesar, a Broadway show based on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The play closed during previews, and Margolis soon founded Blue Dome, a touring theater company that performed avant-garde productions including Antonin Artaud’s The Conquest of Mexico at colleges and universities across the United States.

Returning to New York, Margolis appeared in more than 50 Off Broadway plays, including Uncle Sam and The Golem. Later in his career he focused on television and film, though he remained devoted to the theater, appearing as Bernie Madoff in a 2010 regional production of Imagining Madoff and, at the Berkeley Repertory Theate in 2014, Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to The Scriptures. Five years later he performed in Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day at The Public Theater in New York.

In addition to Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, Margolis’ TV credits include The Equalizer, Oz, Kings, and FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum. He guest starred on, among others, Crossing Jordan, Californication, Person of Interest, Gotham, and Showtime’s The Affair. Margolis was most recently seen on Season 2 of the Showtime series Your Honor playing Mafia kingpin Carmine Conti.

For his Breaking Bad performance as Tio, Margolis was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series in 2012.

In film, Margolis is perhaps best remembered for playing Alberto “The Shadow” in Scarface and for appearances in many of Darren Aronofsky’s films, including Noah, Black Swan, The Wrestler, and Pi. He also appeared in John McTiernan’s The Thomas Crown Affair opposite Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo; Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, opposite Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris; Fisher Stevens’ Stand Up Guys, opposite Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin; Dan Glaser’s Valley Of Bones, opposite Autumn Reeser; Tony Vidal’s Baja, opposite Cynthia Stevenson; and Fernando Grostein Andrade’s ABE, opposite Noah Schanpp and Seu Jorge.

Margolis was most recently seen in Matthew Coppola’s Broken Soldier, opposite Sophie Turner, Ray Liotta, and Ivana Milicevic.

He is survived by wife Jacqueline Margolis; son Morgan Margolis and his wife Heide Margolis; grandchildren Ben, Aidan, and Henry Margolis; brother Jerome and and his wife Ann Margolis.

The family plans to have a private memorial and funeral.