A popular character actor for many years He often worked together with James Garner. He also directed and wrote.
Stuart Margolin, a character actor who is best known for his role as the role of James Garner’s sidekick private detective on the cult show “The Rockford Files,” which earned the actor Mr. Margolin back-to-back Emmy Awards for best supporting actor in 1979 and 1980, passed away this past Monday Staunton, Va. He was 82.
His family members said the reason was related to pancreatic cancer.
“Mr. Margolin was all over television from the 1960s until the present appearing in episodes of numerous shows, as well as appearing in a variety of TV films. Also, he had a huge behind-the-scenes job writing numerous TV films and also produced episodes from “The Rockford Files,”” “The Love Boat,”” “Touched by Angels” and a host of other series. In 1987, he along with Ted Bessell shared an Emmy nomination for their direction for “The Tracey Ullman Show.”
Mr. Margolin’s career was linked to his career as was that associated with Mr. Garner, one of the top Hollywood stars at various times. Prior to “The Rockford Files”” which aired by NBC from 1974 until the two actors. Garner were in “Nichols” (1971-72) which was a short-lived western. Garner played the title character, who was a sheriff as did the other actor, Mr. Margolin played his deputy.
Following “Rockford,” the two men appeared in another Western “Bret Maverick” (1981-82) it was a sequel of “Maverick,” the show which helped make”Mr. Garner a star in the 1950s and the early ’60s. He also acted in several other westerns. Margolin also directed Mr. Garner in several “Rockford Files” television films.
“Jim has been more supportive of me than any other person in my life, besides my dad,” Mr. Margolin was quoted in “The Garner Files,” an autobiography written of the author, Mr. Garner, who died in the year 2014.
The character of Mr. Garner may have helped his career, however, it was his character. Margolin’s capacity to make memorable impressions, sometimes without much screen time which made him a regular of casting directors’ lists. That was even true of his Emmy-winning performance in the role of Angel Martin, who once was imprisoned by Rockford and was his friend and a foe in his back.
“Stuart Margolin, who plays Angel is not appearing on the show each week” The journalist who was syndicated Dick Kleiner wrote in 1979. “And even when he’s present, he’s usually only in small fragments and bits.”
“But,” he added, “Margolin has created a vibrant character in Angel regardless of how little he’s seen. He’s extremely sleazyin both body and mind -and that’s what makes him so entertaining.”
In his autobiography in his memoir, in his memoir. Garner gave Mr. Margolin the full credit for getting the most of the character.
“I admit that I’ve not thought of the reason the reason Rockford is a fan of Angel such a lot, since his character is depraved to the bottom,” he wrote. “But there’s something appealing about his character. I’m not sure why, but I know it’s something Stuart’s fault.”
NBC did not want the role of Mr. Margolin, Mr. Garner wrote. He was nevertheless selected for the pilot and Angel was seen in several other episodes.
“NBC did not want to use them to use him, and they warned us straight-up not to use him in the future,” he wrote. “Then he was given the Emmy award.”
Stuart Margolin was born on Jan. 31st, 1940 at Davenport, Iowa, to Morris and Gertrude Margolin. The majority of his youth in Dallas in Texas, where he was taught to play golf. His first newspaper mentions came in the form of write-ups about the outcomes in golf events.
He was able to excel at his sport that, according to him that he received scholarship offers from a variety of universities. But he was than interested in acting. He caught the bug while playing Puck in an stage production in the local community of “A Midsummer Night’s Affair” when he was just 8 years oldwhich is why, when he graduated from the boarding school of Tennessee then he moved west to attend The Pasadena Playhouse in California.
He was in many stage productions and continued to perform in the theatre throughout his professional career. However, in 1961, he got his first TV part, which was on “The Gertrude Beck Show,” and before long, the television industry was flooding his career.
He ascended to a new level of fame when he was offered the role of an anchor on “Love American Style,”” the show that generated buzz. It began in 1969. On the show, Arnold, his brother Arnold was the executive producer.
The show was comprised of several vignettes in each episode, and comic skits interspersed throughout. He was one of the cast members who performed the skits. Example Mr. Margolin is at the wheel of a car and is complaining to a passenger sitting behind him about the fact that “every time you hook my up by putting me in a cow she’s an animal.” It then zooms into the passenger’s seat, where the man who is sitting next to Mr. Margolin there is actually a dog.
In an interview in 1981 in 1981 with The Associated Press, Mr. Garner said Mr. Margolin’s work on the show was what caught his eye particularly a skit where Mr. Margolin was locked in an open cell door banging in his face.
“I lost my seat,” the Mr. Garner declared. He knew he’d discovered his “Nichols” friend.
“I am a comedian and learn about comedians and comedy,” Mr. Garner recalls. “I told him, ‘That’s that person.'”
He was. Margolin, who lived in Staunton is left behind by his beloved wife Patricia Dunne Margolin, who he wed in 1982; two brothers, Arnold and Richard as well as a sister Anne Kalina; two stepsons, Max and Christopher Martini A stepdaughter Michelle Martini; and four step-grandchildren. His wedding to Joyce Eliason ended in divorce.
Alongside acting and director in addition to acting and directing, Mr. Margolin dabbled in music. In 1980, he released the country-rock album “And The Angel Sings” where he wrote on a few of the songs. In a review the album in The Detroit Free Press, Mike Duffy called it “an album that is a mix of high-quality, low-key and style entertainment.”
“It’s similar to Soupy Sales and Willie Nelson got together,” the writer wrote.
