Mark Margolis, who played one of the most infamous Breaking Bad villains – Hector Salamanca – has died aged 83. His acting career began in the 1970s, and he had an early role in Scarface (1983). Margolis trained under both Stella Adler and Lee Strasbourg in New York, and was Adler’s personal assistant for some time. He also appeared in six Darren Aronofsky movies.
In the light of the current Actors’ Strike, Margolis’ career speaks to the kind of path that the majority of actors follow. He had to take many non-acting jobs in between TV and film roles, including managing a coffee house in Greenwich Village. “I am just a journeyman actor,” he once said (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Truth to tell, six months after Scarface, I had to take a job with a real estate development friend for a few months just to get by.”
Margolis also said that fans “think that I’m some sort of rich guy, that everyone in the movies is making the kind of money Angelina Jolie is making. They don’t realize that most of my life has been a struggle.”
Margolis was also known for the Jim Carrey comedy movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). His early roles in the 1980s often had descriptors such as ‘patient,’ or ‘maintenance man’ in the likes of Dressed to Kill, The Cotton Club, The Bedroom Window, The Secret of My Success, and Glory. He also appeared in The Thomas Crown Affair and Mickey Blue Eyes (both 1999).
Margolis was initially only supposed to appear in Breaking Bad briefly, but his character was popular with viewers. He appeared in eight episodes of Breaking Bad, with his standout moment coming in Face Off. He reprised his role in 22 episodes of Better Call Saul.
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