The entertainment world keeps mourning after it was announced that actor Mark Margolis passed away at the age of 83 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. The celebrity, best remembered for his role as Hector Salamanca, in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, lost his life on August 3, 2023, but it wasn’t until today that his son Morgan Margolis confirmed it.
There are not so many details of the cause of his death, but several local media highlight that the actor was facing an illness and his last moments were spent at the hospital accompanied by his wife Jacqueline and his son Morgan. After the announcement, people close to him and his fans expressed words of farewell for Mark.
One of them was his manager Robert Kolker, who described the celebrity as “one of a kind.” “We will never see someone like him again. He was a valued client and a lifelong friend. I was fortunate to have known him,” he noted.
So far, it is known that Margolis’ family is preparing to hold a private memorial and funeral.
Who Was the Great Mark Margolis?
Mark Margolis was born on November 26, 1939, in Philadelphia, United States, but convinced to fulfill his dream of being an actor, he traveled to New York at a very young age. Although many of us remember him mainly for giving life to Uncle Hector Salamanca, in Breaking Bad, and later in Better Call Saul, it was not his only role, although it was the most applauded, he even received an Emmy in 2012 for his performance.
Away from Vince Gilligan’s television universe, Mark also had his moment in the movies. He participated in more than 70 films in 50 years. He appeared in Scarface and did some collaborations with director Darren Aronofsky. But that’s not all, his talent also took shape in the theater. He participated in more than 50 plays and created a traveling theater company he named Blue Dome.
Uncle Hector in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
The character that led Mark Margolis to his greatest success was Hector Salamanca, a drug trafficker and member of the Salamanca family, a powerful and dangerous drug trafficking organization in New Mexico. Something that makes him stand out is that he is only in a wheelchair, and to communicate he uses a bell that he always carries with him. Although he seems to be the weakest, Uncle Hector has an astute and deep knowledge of the drug trafficking business.
In the plot of the series, this character plays an important role as an old rival of Gustavo “Gus” Fring, another prominent criminal. His connection to the main storyline deepens as the series progresses, and his role has a significant impact on the evolution of the plot and the protagonists.
His condition of being wheelchair-bound after neurological damage is explained in Better Call Saul, the prequel that Breaking Bad fans loved, some even claim it is better.
This story was written in Spanish by Nayeli Párraga in Cultura Colectiva
