Richard Riehle, the character actor best known as Tom Smykowski in "Office Space," has died at 78, TMZ reported on Monday. Friends of the actor told the outlet he died of natural causes last Thursday in Los Angeles.
In the 1999 cult favourite, Riehle's Tom is the product manager laid off from Initech who survives a hit-and-run accident and lands a settlement large enough to chase his dream: the "Jump to Conclusions" mat. The role made him a cult favourite, with scenes and lines that still circulate decades later.
Riehle was among Hollywood's most prolific supporting players, appearing in more than 400 projects over a long career that spanned film, television and voice work.
TMZ last caught up with him in Los Angeles in May 2018, after he had returned from filming the Lifetime holiday movie "A Very Nutty Christmas" with Melissa Joan Hart. He was 78.
