Richard Riehle Dies: ‘Office Space’ & ‘Bridesmaids’ Actor Was 78

Richard Riehle, an actor in Office Space, Bridesmaids, Casino, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, and The Man From Earth, has died. He was 78.

Riehle played Tom Smykowski, a cynical Initech product manager, in the Mike Judge satirical comedy, sharing credits with Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Root, and Gary Cole.

The actor died of natural causes in Los Angeles last Thursday, October 15, according to a TMZ report.

Riehle was born on May 12, 1948, in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He first entered the entertainment industry in the John Wayne-starring western film Rooster Cogburn in 1975.

Films in which Riehle was credited include Joyride (1977), Black Rain (1989), Of Mice and Men (1992), Free Willy (1993), The Fugitive (1993), Lightning Jack (1994), Casino (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), The Odd Couple II (1998), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Office Space (1999), Deuce Bigalo: Make Gigolo (1999), Joe Dirt (2001), Beethoven’s 5th (2003), Wedding Crashers (2005), National Lampoon’s Dom Daze 2 (2006), Red (2008), Halloween II (2009), Bridesmaids (2011), A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), Lovesick (2014). His last film credit was in 2026, in The Cowboy Killer.

On television, Riehle first appeared in the TV film The Other Side of Hell. The actor would go on to appear in My Two Dads (1989), Dragnet (1989), and Falcon Crest (1989).

Other television shows in which Riehle appears include Quantum Leap, Murder, Show Wrote, L.A. Law, Ferris Bueller, The Golden Girls, Roseanne, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ally McBeal, The Practice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chicago Hope, Home Improvement, Columbo, Star Trek: Voyager, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The West Wing, ER, Grounded for Life, The Laramie Project, Married to the Kellys, Star Trek: Enterprise, Boston Legal, George Lopez, 7th Heaven, The Young and the Restless, Psych, Better Off Ted, The Client List, The Mindy Project, The Legend of Korra, Mom, Two and a Half Men, Black-ish, NCIS, The Middle, and Another Period.

Riehle’s latest television credits include American Housewife (2019) and Fuller House (2020), and his last role was Warden Reynolds in HBO’s Barry (2023).