Richard Riehle, the character actor best known for his role in Office Space, has died. He was 78 years old. Click the link in the first comment for the full story ⬇️

 

• Actor Richard Riehle reportedly died of natural causes on Oct. 15 at age 78
• Known as a character actor, Riehle earned hundreds of screen credits and worked steadily onstage 
• Riehle was best known as Walt Finnerty on Grounded for Life and as Tom Smykowski in Office Space

Richard Riehle, the character actor best known for his role in Office Space, has died. He was 78 years old. 

According to TMZ, Riehle died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 15.

PEOPLE has reached out to a rep for the actor for comment. 

Richard Riehle in ‘Office Space’.

Riehle was born in Menomonee Falls, Wis., in 1948, graduating from the University of Notre Dame and earning an MFA at the University of Minnesota. His hundreds of screen credits spanning decades began with an appearance in the 1975 John Wayne film Rooster Cogburn.

Working steadily in regional theater, Riehle made his Broadway debut in Execution of Justice in 1986. He returned in starry revivals: The Iceman Cometh in 1999 and The Man Who Had All the Luck in 2002.

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All the while, he amassed a long list of TV and film credits. Riehle’s most recurring role was a recognizable one; in eight different projects he played Santa Claus, including 2011’s A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and 2008’s Our First Christmas, one of Riehle’s several Hallmark original movies.

Richard Riehle in 2024.

In 1999, Riehle played software product manager and intermediary Tom Smykowski in the hit Mike Judge comedy Office Spac

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On the big screen, Riehle had roles in 1992’s Of Mice and Men, 1993’s The Fugitive, 1995’s Jury Duty, 1999’s Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and 2005’s Wedding Crashers.

This year he appeared in the films The Cowboy Killer and Boris Is Dead.