Character actor Stuart Margolin, best known for his portrayal of Evelyn "Angel" Martin on The Rockford Files, passed away yesterday of natural causes. He was 82.
Margolin's career in TV spanned nearly six decades with credits in shows such as Burke's Law, The Fugitive, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Monkees, Bewitched, That Girl, My World and Welcome to It, The Partridge Family, Cannon, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Gunsmoke, Magnum P.I., Hill Street Blues, The Tracey Ullman Show, Matlock, 30 Rock, NCIS and The X-Files.
Margolin was a semi-regular on Love, American Style when he came to the attention of James Garner who cast him as his sidekick on the short-lived TV series Nichols. While this show did not succeed, The Rockford Files certainly did and one of the reasons for its success was the presence of Margolin as Angel. With a friend like Angel who needed enemies? Yet for all his sleaziness and willingness to sell Rockford down the river, Margolin played him with a sense of charm and dignity which would earn him two Emmy Awards. After The Rockford Files went off the air, Margolin collaborated with Garner in the short-lived revival of Bret Maverick.
Margolin also directed several episodes of The Rockford Files as well as Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Northern Exposure, Quantum Leap, Touched by an Angel as well as several Canadian TV shows like Danger Bay, North of 60, Jake and The Kid and DaVinci's Inquest.
Occasionally, Margolin appeared on the big screen in films like Kelly's Heroes, Days of Heaven and Death Wish with Charles Bronson. In Death Wish, Margolin plays Aimes Jainchill, a gun loving land developer who gives Paul Kersey his first gun. He could have played Jainchill as a caricature but gave him some depth and dimension.
I leave you with what Margolin did best - throw Jim Rockford under the bus. R.I.P.
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