Stuart Margolin, an Emmy-winning actor from “The Rockford Files,” has died. He was 82.
His stepdaughter Michelle Martini told USA Today on Wednesday that the actor died Monday, a decade after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“It just got to a point where it was too hard to fight [the cancer] anymore,” she said.
Martini recalled the impact Margolin had on her family. The actor married her mother Patricia Margolin in 1982, becoming stepfather to her and her brothers Max and Christopher.
“He was one of the most generous people I’ve ever met,” Martini said. “He really took my brothers and myself, and he made a family for us, and he changed our lives in so many ways. And he was an amazing husband to my mother.”
Patricia recalled her “lifelong romance” with Margolin to USA Today, which began when they were teenagers and met in juvenile court. Margolin was on trial for running away from home and attempting to live on his own at age 14. Patricia, also a teenager at the time, was tasked with judging the case due to a criminal justice reform initiative that sought to have juveniles with lesser cases evaluated by their peers.
“I was a juvenile judge, and I found him guilty and referred him to the Dallas Police Department,” said Patricia, who also went on to have a career in law enforcement. “That’s how we met.”
Not long after their court date, Patricia and Margolin met again at a dance “and that’s how the romance started,” she said. Though each went on to marry other people, they divorced around the same time and rekindled their relationship.
They recently celebrated 40 years of marriage.
“He was the love of my life all my life,” Patricia said.
Margolin’s career spanned nearly six decades, with his first acting credit in 1961 in “The Gertrude Berg Show” and his most recent credit as a voice actor in the 2022 short film “Home,” per IMDb.
One of his most notable acting appearances began in 1974 as he starred in NBC’s “The Rockford Files.” In the detective drama, Margolin acted alongside actor James Garner as the trouble-making friend of Garner’s Jim Rockford, named Evelyn “Angel” Martin.
Margolin’s role as Evelyn landed him Emmy awards in 1979 and 1980 for best supporting actor. He also earned an Emmy nomination in 1987 for outstanding directing in a variety or music program for “The Tracey Ullman Show.”
“The Rockford Files” series came to an end in 1980, but the story continued in several TV movies that aired in the 1990s.
In addition to his acting career, Margolin was also a writer, producer and director. He directed several episodes of television, including shows “Touched by an Angel,” “Magnum, P.I.” and “Quantum Leap.”
Read more at usatoday.com
