Breaking Bad actor Mark Margolis has died aged 83

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Mark Margolis has died at the age of 83.

News of Margolis' passing was confirmed by his son, actor and Knitting Factory Entertainment CEO Morgan Margolis, after the actor died yesterday (3 August).

Margolis died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness.

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The death of the 83-year-old comes after Margolis became a familiar face to millions of fans of the Bryan Cranston-led show Breaking Bad, in which he played Hector Salamanca.

He made his first appearance in the second episode of the second season, where he appeared as the drug runner who was only able to communicate using facial expressions and a brass bell fastened to his wheelchair.

When the much-loved series came to an end in 2013, Margolis was able to continue performing in the role of Salamanca through the spin-off show Better Call Saul.

Differing from his performance in Breaking Bad, Margolis was able to play Salamanca as a younger man, before he became incapacitated, when he returned to act alongside Bob Odenkirk in the spin-off.

The actor previously spoked to The Hollywood Reporter about his success in the franchise, saying: "I was only coming onto Breaking Bad as far as I knew for that one episode, but there’s no accounting for taste, and the fans took a fancy to me."

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"Somebody asked me recently, ‘How did you manage to play such a horrible guy?’ and I said, ‘Have you talked to my friends?’ They’ll tell you I’m pretty miserable to begin with," Margolis continued.

In 2012, Margolis received an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a drama series for his role as Salamanca in Breaking Bad.

As well as appearing in the hit drama series, Margolis earned credits throughout his career for appearances in Going in Style (1979), De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (1980) Arthur (1981) and Scarface (1983), in which he acted alongside Al Pacino.

Margolis once described himself as a 'journeyman actor', explaining: "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.”

Fans have been paying tribute to the actor in the wake of his death, with one Twitter user commenting: "Oh man, RIP Mark Margolis. What an actor. Gutting."

Another wrote: "Mark Margolis was one of the screen's ultimate wildcards. He'll be missed. Rest in peace."