'Office Space' star Richard Riehle dies at 78
Richard Riehle, the prolific character actor best known as Tom Smykowski in the cult comedy 'Office Space', has died at 78. Friends told TMZ he died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, 15 October; Entertainment Weekly also reported his death.
Richard Riehle, the American character actor best known for playing Tom Smykowski in the 1999 cult comedy "Office Space", has died at the age of 78. TMZ reported on Monday that friends of the actor said he died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, 15 October. Entertainment Weekly also reported his death the same day and said it had contacted his representatives for further information; no family statement had been published by the time of reporting, so the cause rests on what friends told TMZ.
In "Office Space", Riehle played Tom Smykowski, the Initech product manager famous for insisting that he had "people skills" before being laid off, surviving a car accident and using a settlement to pursue his "Jump to Conclusions" mat. The film was only a modest success on release but became a lasting workplace satire, and Smykowski remained the role audiences most often quoted back to him. He also played the mechanic Bill Cozbi in "Bridesmaids" (2011) and appeared in films including "Casino", "Fried Green Tomatoes", "The Fugitive", "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction".
Born on 12 May 1948 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Riehle studied at the University of Notre Dame and earned an MFA at the University of Minnesota before working in regional theatre. Entertainment Weekly notes that he made his screen debut in the 1975 film "Rooster Cogburn" and went on to appear in more than 400 film, television and other projects, including "Grounded for Life", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "The West Wing", "ER" and "Modern Family", and as the voice of Bumi in "The Legend of Korra". Source: TMZ / Entertainment Weekly