Richard Riehle, Office Space Character Actor, Dies at 78

Richard Riehle, the character actor known for playing Tom Smykowski in Office Space, died on October 15 in Los Angeles. He was 78. Variety Movies confirmed that he died of natural causes.

The role in Mike Judge's 1999 black comedy became one of his best-known performances, as Consequence of Sound reported. But it was one part of a much larger career, with more than 400 projects cited by Daily Mail.

On October 19, TMZ reported Riehle's death, citing friends who said he had died the previous Thursday in Los Angeles of natural causes.

Variety Movies also confirmed the death that day, giving the date as October 15. Its report highlighted his work in Office Space, Star Trek and Bridesmaids.

The coverage broadened beyond his most familiar role. /Film described a character actor with more than 40 years of experience, while Forbes pointed to appearances in Casino and The Fugitive alongside Office Space.

Fans were also paying tribute. Daily Mail reported praise for Riehle as an underrated character actor, drawing attention to the scale of his screen career.

The available reports agree on Riehle's age and identify natural causes as the cause of death. The tributes so far have focused on both his recognisable Office Space performance and the breadth of his film and television work, according to Variety Movies and Daily Mail.