Richard Riehle, dependable TV and film character actor who was in
'Glory' and 'Office Space,' dies
[October 20, 2026]
By MARK KENNEDY
NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Riehle, a prolific character actor in TV and
film who often played authority figures but was equally skilled at
comedy, notably playing a sad-sack product manager in “Office Space,”
has died. He was 78.
Wright Entertainment Inc. said Monday that Riehle had died Oct. 15 but
disclosed no cause or details. “Our industry has lost an exceptional
talent, and our community has lost a truly wonderful man,” said a
statement.
Riehle's almost five-decade career included playing a quartermaster in
the Civil War drama “Glory,” a prison guard in “The Fugitive,” an air
marshal in “Executive Decision,” a police officer in a guest spot on
“The West Wing” and a principal on the TV adaptation of “Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off.”
“If a casting director has found themselves in need of a burly,
blustery, mustachioed man for their project, Richard Riehle has likely
been near the top of their list,” The AV Club said in 2017.
He fell into acting as a senior at the University of Notre Dame. He
couldn’t really afford to stay another year but was told he could take
all the credits he needed in speech and drama in one semester. He
stayed.
“I spent a semester doing anything and everything that you do in the
theater — acting, directing, building sets, etc. — and then for some
reason they liked what I did enough that they got me a teaching
assistantship at the University of Minnesota. So I went on and got my
MFA (Masters of Fine Arts). I figured, ‘What the heck? If they’re gonna
pay me to do it, I’m gonna do it!’” he told the AV Club.
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This image released by Multicom Entertainment Group, Inc. shows
Richard Riehle during the filming of "The Cowboy Killer." (Ben
Solenberger/ Multicom Entertainment Group, Inc. via AP)
 He had his first lines in the 1977
movie “Joyride” alongside Desi Arnaz Jr., Anne Lockhart, Robert
Carradine and Melanie Griffith. He'd go on to appear in the broad
comedy “Bridesmaids,” the comedy-mystery “Shadows and Fog” for Woody
Allen, “Black Rain” with Michael Douglas and the sitcom “Grounded
For Life.”
He had an affinity to the “Star Trek” world, landing parts in three
franchises — “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1992, “Star Trek:
Voyager” in 2000 and “Star Trek: Enterprise” in 2004. He was on
Broadway three times, including with Paul Giamatti in a 1999 revival
of “The Iceman Cometh.”
One of his most beloved roles was in the 1999 film “Office Space,”
as Tom Smykowski, an expendable employee at Initech facing getting
laid off despite insisting, “I have people skills!”
“Beyond his immense talent, he will be remembered for his genuine
goodness, boundless kindness, and unwavering generosity,
particularly toward emerging actors and filmmakers, whom he
encouraged and supported at every opportunity,” Wright Entertainment
said.
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