CULT CLASSIC FAREWELL

‘Office Space’ Star Dies at 78

With more than 400 credits, Richard Riehle was a familiar face to generations of moviegoers.

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Richard Riehle, the veteran character actor who turned a terrible business idea into one of Office Space’s most memorable jokes, has died at 78. The Wisconsin native worked in regional theater before making his screen debut in an uncredited role alongside John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn in 1975’s Rooster Cogburn. Riehle appeared in more than 400 projects during his five-decade-long Hollywood career, including hit films like Free Willy, Wedding Crashers, Bridesmaids, and the Air Bud movies. He also won a 2014 BTVA People’s Choice Voice Acting Award as part of the voice ensemble in The Legend of Korra. His Office Space character became a cult favorite: an anxious employee who dreams up the infamous ‘Jump to Conclusions’ mat before getting laid off, surviving a car accident, and collecting a massive settlement. Riehle died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home, according to friends cited in local media.