1y ago

Mark Margolis, Actor on ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ Dies at 83

www.hollywoodreporter.com Mark Margolis, Actor on ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ Dies at 83

He received an Emmy nom for portraying Hector Salamanca on those shows and appeared in 'Scarface,' 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,' 'Oz' and six Darren Aronofsky movies.

50 comments

ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding
- I was like "ding" better be the top comment. Was not disappointed.

Sad ding 🛎️

Man won an emmy for ringing a bell. Respect on him for even ACCEPTING a role like that. What did the audition look like?
- He did so much with that role while not speaking. I always thought he was a great actor.
- I haven't seen BB in a while...but I'm pretty sure there are flashbacks with him where he is vocal.
  
  He also has a major role in Better Call Saul, which takes place around the time he becomes that way
  
  There's the scene with Gus at the pool and the one with the cousins as kids, which also involves water. Better Call Saul had him a lot more.
  
  That is true. I think it's like two scenes though. Ohh and a short cold open scene. He spent far more time on screen in the chair.
- "Can you ring a bell? Now do it looking angry. Not angry enough. Perfect."

He did such a good job as Hector. RIP.
- Was crazy how physically imposing and terrifying a paralyzed person could be
  
  Exactly, and all the bitterness with it.

This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mark Margolis, the journeyman actor who turned in a commanding performance as the vindictive drug runner Hector Salamanca, a man of few words and a bell, on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died.
A protégé of Stella Adler who did double duty as the legendary acting teacher’s personal assistant, Margolis also stood out as the Bolivian henchman Alberto the Shadow in Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1984); as the gravelly voiced landlord Mr. Shickadance looking for the rent in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994); and, from 1998-2003, as the HIV-infected mob boss Antonio Nappa on HBO’s Oz.
The Philadelphia native played an aging math teacher for Darren Aronofsky in Pi (1998), then showed up in the filmmaker’s next five movies: as the guy who keeps selling Mrs. Goldfarb’s (Ellen Burstyn) TV back to her in Requiem for a Dream (2000); as a priest in The Fountain (2006); as Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s (Mickey Rourke) landlord in The Wrestler (2008); as a ballet patron in Black Swan (2010); and as a “fallen angel” in Noah (2014).
In the spectacular season-four finale, “Face Off,” which aired in October 2011, Salamanca gets his revenge on drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) as part of a suicide mission, and he received an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2012.
In exchange for classes, he served as Adler’s personal assistant for nearly three years, getting her cabs, carrying her groceries back to her apartment opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art and checking coats for guests when she hosted a party.
He managed a coffee house on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village — “I used to let Richie Havens sit there all night even though he didn’t have any money because I loved listening to his music,” he said in 2016 — built theatrical artwork installations and took geodesic domes to colleges all around the country.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
- Good bot...
- Such a great actor!

He was the main character’s mentor in Pi also, right? That’s where I remember him from.
- The guy was in, like, six Darren Aronofsky films. He was a legend.
- Yes! I never realized that until you said it. He really was a legend. He was one of those actors you always thought "alright, this guy's in it" when you see him pop up.
- He shouldn't have gone looking for that 216 digit number again.

Damn, never even realized he was in an Ace Ventura movie. What an explosive career.
- Venturraaaaaaa
  Yes, Satan?
  
  Oh I'm sorry sir. You sounded like someone else
- What an explosive career.
  😏

He'll always be that old guy in TNG who died and Riker got put on trial for his murder
- Ah, the Rashomon-inspired ep, "A Matter of Perspective." That was a good one! R.I.P. Margolis, he was a great actor.
  
  That's not how I remember it
- I was thinking Ace Ventura's landlord.
  
  "Ven-tur-aaahh!"
- Omg I never realized. That was a really bad episode tho. Horrible acting all around.

Last chance to look at me, Hector. 😢

Awww. Such a good actor! Loved to Hate his character Hector on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul! 🥺

Row 1 (ding) a b c d e f (ding)

Best ratio of screen time to cultural impact since Hannibal Lecter
- Lannibal Hector

Remember him as a few random characters on law and order.
Somehow made some generic characters terrifying as all fuck.
This was a man who practiced his craft.