Richard Riehle, the man behind the Jump to Conclusions Mat, has died at 78 (Oct. 19)
Updated: 16 hours ago
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Character actor Richard Riehle died of natural causes Oct. 15 in Los Angeles. He was 78.
He's best remembered as Tom Smykowski, the laid-off Initech product manager in Office Space.
His roughly 400 credits ran from The Fugitive and Casino to Bridesmaids, Wedding Crashers and Star Trek.
Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ all reported his death.
Every great comedy needs the guy who makes the whole room funnier without trying. For more than 40 years, that guy was very often Richard Riehle.
In Office Space, Riehle played Tom Smykowski, the man whose actual job was taking the specifications from the customers to the software engineers. "I have people skills!" Tom insisted, to two consultants who were not buying it. Then he got laid off and hit by a car, and the settlement finally let him chase his dream: the Jump to Conclusions Mat, a game where you literally jump to conclusions. More than 25 years later, people still quote it at work.
That was the Riehle magic. With a big mustache and a face that looked like it had just been asked to stay late on a Friday, he could get a laugh out of a single tired look. He brought that to Wedding Crashers, Joe Dirt and Bridesmaids, and to guest spots on everything from The Golden Girls to Star Trek. He also played Santa Claus more than once, which feels exactly right.
Born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, in 1948, Riehle got his start in the 1975 John Wayne western Rooster Cogburn and kept working right up to this year.
Hollywood has plenty of leading men. It had only one Tom Smykowski. We'll miss you, Richard. Somewhere, somebody is jumping to conclusions in your honor.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TMZ, ABC7 Chicago
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