‘Office Space’ and ‘Bridesmaids’ Actor Richard Riehle Dead at 78

Published Oct 19, 2026, 2:55 PM EDT

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

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Character actor Richard Riehle has died. Riehle had hundreds of credits over a nearly 50-year on-screen career, and starred in films like The Fugitive, Office Space, and Bridesmaids. Riehle was 78.

Born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin on May 12, 1948, Riehle graduated from the University of Minnesota with an MFA. His first on-screen role was a small part in 1975's Rooster Cogburn, a John Wayne Western that was a sequel to True Grit. His first speaking role came two years later in the 1977 thriller Joyride, with Robert Carradine and Melanie Griffith. However, his movie career only began in earnest a decade later, when he was cast in the Broadway drama Execution of Justice; once he'd relocated to New York, his balding pate and push broom mustache got him noticed by casting directors. He soon started popping up in parts in films like Black Rain, Glory, and The Fugitive, and TV series like Star Trek: The Next Generation; he starred in "The Inner Light," which is considered to be one of the science fiction franchise's finest hours.

Riehle was often cast in dramatic roles, but also had a knack for comedy; nowhere was that more apparent than in the 1999 Mike Judge movie Office Space, where he played Tom Smykowski, a "people person" whose position is eliminated by a pair of corporate consultants. He eventually gets his revenge on the company, using a settlement to fund his "Jump to Conclusions" Mat. Riehle was also prominently featured in the comedy Bridesmaids as the amusingly named mechanic Bill Cozbi. He worked with a number of legendary directors, including Woody Allen (Shadows and Fog), Martin Scorsese (Casino), and Rob Reiner (Ghosts of Mississippi).

Riehle was also a familiar face on the small screen; one of his first starring roles was replacing Jeffrey Jones as Principal Ed Rooney on the short-lived sitcom adaptation of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He guested on Quantum Leap, Roseanne, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, and Modern Family, and voiced Bumi on The Legend of Korra. He was also a regular on the sitcom Grounded for Life, playing Donal Logue's cantankerous father.

Busy to the end, Riehle starred in the Western Cowboy Killer earlier this year with Robert Carradine, who he starred with in his first-ever speaking role, Joyride; he also has several other projects in post-production. Riehle reportedly died of natural causes; Collider extends our sympathies to his friends, family, and colleagues.