‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ actor, Mark Margolis dies

An actor who is best known for his role as a kingpin who ruled over the Albuquerque drug trade from his hospital room on “Breaking Bad” has died.

Mark Margolis was 83 years old.

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Margolis’ son announced that his father had died on Thursday at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, Variety reported.

Publicist Henry Eshelman said that Margolis’ wife and son were at his bedside when he died after a short illness, WPVI reported.

Margolis was born in Philadelphia in 1939. He attended Temple University before he moved to New York to study acting.

While current fans may know him best as Hector Salamanca in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” he also had roles in “Snowpiercer” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2″ and “Scarface,” according to his IMDB profile.

He frequently appeared in movies made by Darren Aronofsky starting with 1998′s “PI,” and finally in 2014′s “Noah,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

When asked in 2012, Margolis joked about the history between the actor and filmmaker, saying, “He thinks he has an obligation! I started with him on his first movie, the $60,000 ‘Pi,’ when he was unknown. I chased him for three months because he kept lying to me about when I’d get my money. I finally threatened to call his mother, who was craft services on the film. Then he finally paid me.”

Despite the more than 100 movie and television roles, Margolis still had to work outside of the industry.

“I am just a journeyman actor,” Margolis said, according to 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 was nominated for an Emmy in 2012 for his role as Salamanca, who did not speak in “Breaking Bad.”

He said he was inspired by his mother-in-law.

“She was in a nursing home for many years in Florida, tragically, after suffering a stroke,” he said. “We used to visit her, and she couldn’t speak. But she’d get excited when we came in the room, and the left side of her mouth would always do these contortions where the lips would push out, almost like she was chewing tobacco. So I kind of stole that from her. I always say the role is an homage to Shirley, who was actually a 1930s Earl Carroll Follies dancer.”

Margolis leaves behind his wife, his son, and three grandsons along with his brother and his wife.

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