Mark Margolis

Mark Margolis (November 26, 1939 – August 3, 2023) was an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents Fanya (née Fried) and Isidore Margolis. He began acting in his teens and briefly attended Temple University before leaving to pursue performance training in New York City. At nineteen, he studied under Stella Adler at the Actors Studio, and later received additional training from Lee Strasberg and Barbara Loden.

Following his studies with Adler, Margolis began appearing in stage productions. In 1962, he took part in the Broadway drama Infidel Caesar, a production derived from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar that closed during previews without an official opening. He went on to found Blue Dome, a touring theater company, and accumulated credits in more than fifty Off-Broadway productions. He returned to Broadway in 1982 in The World of Sholom Aleichem. Later stage work included a 2010 regional production in which he portrayed Bernie Madoff in Imagining Madoff, a 2014 appearance as Gus in Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, and a 2019 performance as Gottfried Swetts in Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day.

Margolis made his film debut in 1976 with an appearance in The Opening of Misty Beethoven. He subsequently built a substantial screen career, with notable roles including Mr. Morrison in Short Eyes (1977), Alberto "The Shadow" in Scarface (1983), Mr. Shickadance in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), and the New Priest in Immortals (2011). He became a consistent presence in the work of director Darren Aronofsky, appearing in each of Aronofsky's first six films: Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), The Wrestler (2008), Black Swan (2010), and Noah (2014).

On television, Margolis held a recurring role as Jimmy in The Equalizer from 1985 to 1989 and played Antonio Nappa in the HBO drama Oz from 1999 to 2003. He appeared in a 1990 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and portrayed Helmut Dieter in the soap opera Santa Barbara in 1991. Additional recurring television credits included Quantum Leap, Law & Order, Crossing Jordan, and Californication. In January 2015, he played Felix Faust in the Constantine episode "Quid Pro Quo." His most widely recognized television role was Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad, which he played from 2009 to 2011; the performance earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2012. He reprised the character in the spin-off series Better Call Saul from 2016 to 2022.

Margolis married Jacqueline Margolis (née Petcove) on June 3, 1962. They had a son, Morgan Margolis, an actor and business executive, and three grandchildren. Margolis died on August 3, 2023, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness, at the age of 83.