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NEW YORK — <\/span>Richard Riehle, a prolific character actor in TV<\/a> and film<\/a> who often played authority figures but was equally skilled at comedy, notably playing a sad-sack product manager in \u201cOffice Space,\u201d has died. He was 78.<\/p>\n Wright Entertainment Inc. said Monday that Riehle had died Oct. 15 but disclosed no cause or details. \u201cOur industry has lost an exceptional talent, and our community has lost a truly wonderful man,\u201d said a statement.<\/p>\n Riehle’s almost five-decade career included playing a quartermaster in the Civil War drama \u201cGlory,\u201d a prison guard in \u201cThe Fugitive,\u201d an air marshal in \u201cExecutive Decision,\u201d a police officer in a guest spot on \u201cThe West Wing\u201d<\/a> and a principal on the TV adaptation of \u201cFerris Bueller\u2019s Day Off.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf a casting director has found themselves in need of a burly, blustery, mustachioed man for their project, Richard Riehle has likely been near the top of their list,\u201d The AV Club said in 2017.<\/p>\n He fell into acting as a senior at the University of Notre Dame. He couldn\u2019t really afford to stay another year but was told he could take all the credits he needed in speech and drama in one semester. He stayed.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent a semester doing anything and everything that you do in the theater \u2014 acting, directing, building sets, etc. \u2014 and then for some reason they liked what I did enough that they got me a teaching assistantship at the University of Minnesota. So I went on and got my MFA (Masters of Fine Arts). I figured, \u2018What the heck? If they\u2019re gonna pay me to do it, I\u2019m gonna do it!\u2019\u201d he told the AV Club.<\/p>\n He had his first lines in the 1977 movie \u201cJoyride\u201d alongside Desi Arnaz Jr., Anne Lockhart, Robert Carradine and Melanie Griffith. He’d go on to appear in the broad comedy \u201cBridesmaids,\u201d the comedy-mystery \u201cShadows and Fog\u201d for Woody Allen, \u201cBlack Rain\u201d with Michael Douglas and the sitcom \u201cGrounded For Life.\u201d<\/p>\n He had an affinity to the \u201cStar Trek\u201d world, landing parts in three franchises \u2014 \u201cStar Trek: The Next Generation\u201d in 1992, \u201cStar Trek: Voyager\u201d in 2000 and \u201cStar Trek: Enterprise\u201d in 2004. He was on Broadway three times, including with Paul Giamatti<\/a> in a 1999 revival of \u201cThe Iceman Cometh.\u201d <\/p>\n One of his most beloved roles was in the 1999 film \u201cOffice Space,\u201d as Tom Smykowski, an expendable employee at Initech facing getting laid off despite insisting, \u201cI have people skills!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond his immense talent, he will be remembered for his genuine goodness, boundless kindness, and unwavering generosity, particularly toward emerging actors and filmmakers, whom he encouraged and supported at every opportunity,\u201d Wright Entertainment said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n