Mark Margolis, Actor Who Played ‘Tio’ Salamanca on ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ Dead at 83

Mark Margolis, the longtime character actor whose career pinnacled with unforgettable arcs on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died at the age of 83.

Margolis’ son announced the actor’s death Friday, noting that Margolis died at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital on August 3 following a short illness.

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

“A pervasive presence in television, film, and on stage, Emmy-nominated actor Mark Margolis was best known for playing Hector ‘Tio’ Salamanca, a former drug kingpin who is unable to speak or walk due to the lingering effects of a stroke that originally appearing on AMC’s hit Breaking Bad and for which he was nominated for a 2012 Emmy award,” read a biography accompanying Kolker’s statement. “In 2016, he reprised that role as a younger version of the character, guest starring until 2022 in seasons 2 through 6 of AMC’s multiple Emmy and Golden Globes nominee Better Call Saul.”

“I am very saddened today to learn of a friend’s passing,” Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston wrote in an Instagram post. “Mark Margolis was a really good actor and a lovely human being. Fun and engaging off the set, and (in the case of Breaking Bad and Your Honor) intimidating and frightening on set. His quiet energy belied his mischievous nature and curious mind… And he loved sharing a good joke. I miss him already. Rest now, Mark and thank you for your friendship and your exceptional body of work.”

Born in Philadelphia, raised in New York City, and a student of legendary acting coach Stella Adler, Margolis honed his craft on the stage before emerging as a reliable on-screen character actor. He went on to appear in upwards of 70 films over five decades.

Margolis’ first notable big-screen role came in 1983 when he portrayed assassin Alberto the Shadow in Scarface. Margolis later appeared in films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mickey Blue Eyes, Hannibal, and The Thomas Crown Affair. Meanwhile his TV credits included a notable arc on the prison drama Oz, plus gigs on American Horror Story: Asylum, The Affair, and Your Honor, where he reunited with Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston.

Margolis was also known for his long association with director Darren Aronofsky, appearing in six of his movies. He first played the mathematics teacher Sol in Aronofsky’s 1998 debut Pi. Margolis also had supporting roles in Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and Noah.

However, it was arguably his portrayal of the stroke-stricken, concierge bell-ringing, but still-menacing drug lord Hector “Tio” Salamanca that became his memorable. It also earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in 2012. Margolis played the wheelchair-bound Salamanca for eight episodes on Breaking Bad — with the character’s arc ending with a famous a bang — before portraying a younger version of the drug lord for the 22 episodes of the prequel series Better Call Saul.

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