Two-time Emmy Award-winner Stuart Margolin has passed away at the age of 82. His stepson, actor Max Martini, posted the news on Instagram. No cause of death was indicated.
“Love you Stuart Margolin. A great actor/writer/producer/director. But more importantly, a profoundly gifted step-father that was always there with love and support for his family. RIP Pappy. Keep ‘em cold,” Martini wrote.
Best known for his recurring role as Evelyn “Angel” Martin in 37 episodes of The Rockford Files and all eight of The Rockford Files TV movies, Margolin won back-to-back Emmy Awards in 1979 and 1980 for playing Angel.
After The Rockford Files ended, he recurred on Garner’s next series, Bret Maverick, which was a follow-on to the original Maverick. That series lasted one season.
“Margolin appeared opposite Garner in series before and after The Rockford Files. He was a regular on the short-lived Western Nichols, playing the town bully to Garner’s violence-hating, get-rich-quick-minded titles character,” Deadline reported.
In addition to his long association with Garner, Margolin was a prolific actor, guest starring, recurring, and co-starring in a large number of series, including The Fugitive, Ben Casey, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ironside, The Virginian, The Monkees, Bewitched, The F.B.I., The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, Mr. Smith, Hill Street Blues, Crazy Like a Fox, The Tracey Ullman Show, Mom, P.I., Touched by an Angel, 30 Rock, NCIS, Beggars and Choosers, Stone Undercover, and The X Files.
In addition to television, his film work included Kelly’s Heroes, The Second Time Around, The Gambler, Don’t Just Stand There, Limbo, and others.
As a director, he worked on episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., Bret Maverick, Quantum Leap, Wonder Woman, and Northern Exposure. He also directed two episodes of The Rockford Files series and two of the TV movies. In 1996 he won the Director’s Guild of America’s award for children’s programming for Salt Water Moose.
Margolin is survived by his wife, Patricia Ann Dunne, step children Max Martini Christopher Martini, and Michelle Martini, and his brother, Arnold Margolin.
