# Stuart Margolin
**Stuart Margolin** (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American character actor and television director who won back-to-back Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, in 1979 and 1980, for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin, the comically dishonest ex-con friend of [James Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-garner)'s detective on NBC's *The Rockford Files*.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) He worked in television for six decades, appearing in more than 100 movies and TV shows while also building a parallel career directing episodic television and made-for-TV movies.[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/stuart-margolin-423450/biography)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | January 31, 1940, Davenport, Iowa; December 12, 2022, at a hospice center in Staunton, Virginia, aged 82[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) |
| Signature role | Evelyn "Angel" Martin on *The Rockford Files* (NBC, 1974–1980), 37 episodes[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, 1979 and 1980, for *The Rockford Files*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/awards/) |
| Directing debut | An episode of *Love, American Style* in 1973; he directed episodic TV and made-for-TV movies for decades afterward[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) |
| Other directing honors | Emmy nomination in 1987 for *The Tracey Ullman Show*; DGA Award for the children's program *Salt Water Moose*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/awards/) • [5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/stuart-margolin/bio/3030041485/) |
| Other acting | Films including *Kelly's Heroes* (1970), *Death Wish* (1974), and *Arbitrage* (2012); guest roles on *The X-Files*, *30 Rock*, and *NCIS*[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) |
| Primetime Emmy record | 2 wins and 3 nominations across his career[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) • [8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/stuart-margolin) |
## Early life and start in acting
Margolin was born in [Davenport, Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/davenport-iowa), the second of four children. His mother was a homemaker and his father a salesman whose wares ranged from air conditioners to Yellow Pages advertisements; the work moved the family to Dallas and [Scottsdale, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/scottsdale-arizona), where Margolin finished high school.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) He began acting at age 8, playing [Puck](https://www.edgepedia.org/puck-a-midsummer-nights-dream) in a local production of *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, though he said he had no great desire to be an actor and instead had inclinations to show off, a tendency that got him kicked out of public schools in Texas.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
After moving to California to study acting at the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse), he made his television debut in 1961 in the sitcom *Mrs. G. Goes to College*.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) His first recurring role came in 1962 as Lieutenant Miller on the short-lived military comedy *Ensign O'Toole*, and through the 1960s he was cast repeatedly as sheriffs, lieutenants, and other uniformed authority figures.[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/stuart-margolin-423450/biography) Guest parts in this period included *The Fugitive*, *Ironside*, and *Bewitched*.[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/stuart-margolin-423450/biography)
## Angel Martin and The Rockford Files
In 1971 Margolin was cast as Deputy Sheriff Mitch on the NBC western *Nichols*, playing a backstabbing deputy to James Garner's motorcycle-riding sheriff; Garner's memoir describes the part as essentially an early version of Angel.[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/stuart-margolin-423450/biography) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) When *The Rockford Files* began in 1974, Margolin appeared in the pilot as Evelyn "Angel" Martin, Rockford's former cellmate at San Quentin and a small-time grifter who double-crossed the detective again and again while remaining, in Garner's words, somehow lovable.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
**Network resistance.** Garner wrote that NBC did not want Margolin in the show and told the production point-blank not to use him again, but the actors put him in a second episode, then a third; after Margolin received an Emmy nomination, the network asked whether he could be signed for the next year. Margolin appeared in nearly 40 episodes over the series' run.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) The role earned him the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in both 1979 and 1980, and he reprised Angel in a series of later *Rockford Files* television movies.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/awards/) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) According to a retrospective tribute, he is among the few individuals to receive the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series two times for a single series.[6](https://www.the-solute.com/celebrating-the-living-stuart-margolin/) Margolin himself called the show "the best time of my career."
## Directing career
Margolin launched his directing career on *Love, American Style*, helming an episode in 1973; the anthology comedy ran from 1969 to 1974 and his older brother Arnold worked on it as an executive producer and writer.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) Over the following decades he directed episodes of *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*, *Wonder Woman*, *Quantum Leap*, *Northern Exposure*, *Touched by an Angel*, and many other series, along with made-for-TV movies such as *The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads* (1999) and *The Sweetest Gift* (1998).[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/)
His directing awards included an Emmy nomination in 1987 for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program for *The Tracey Ullman Show* and a Daytime Emmy nomination for the children's special *The Sweetest Gift*.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/awards/) For the children's program *Salt Water Moose*, TV Guide records that he accepted the 1996 Directors Guild Award,[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/stuart-margolin/bio/3030041485/) while the *International Television Almanac* dates the DGA Award for the film to 1997.[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-International-Television-Almanac/2014/International-Television-Almanac-2014-Whose-Who.pdf) He also wrote the screenplay for the made-for-TV movie *The Ballad of Andy Crocker* (1969), one of the first films to address the struggles of Vietnam veterans returning home.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
## Other work
As an actor Margolin appeared opposite [Charles Bronson](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-bronson) in *The Stone Killer* (1973) and *Death Wish* (1974) and with [James Caan](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-caan) in *The Gambler* (1974), and played Little Joe in *Kelly's Heroes* (1970).[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/) Later television work included *The X-Files*, *NCIS*, and a 2006 *30 Rock* appearance as a World War II veteran believed to be the potential biological father of [Jack Donaghy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-donaghy).[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/) His final screen appearance listed on IMDb is *What the Night Can Do* (2020).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/)
He was also a songwriter, writing numerous songs for his friend, the singer Jerry Riopelle, since 1967, and he wrote the soundtrack for *The Glitter Dome* (1984), an HBO crime drama starring Garner that he also directed, co-produced, and acted in.[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/stuart-margolin/bio/3030041485/) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
## Death
Margolin died on December 12, 2022, at a hospice center in [Staunton, Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/staunton-virginia), at age 82; the cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, according to his wife, Patricia Margolin.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
## References
1. [Stuart Margolin, Emmy-winning 'Rockford Files' actor, dies at 82, The Washington Post (December 14, 2022)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/14/actor-stuart-margolin-dead/)
2. [Stuart Margolin Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/stuart-margolin-423450/biography)
3. [Stuart Margolin, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/)
4. [Stuart Margolin – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546765/awards/)
5. [Stuart Margolin Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/stuart-margolin/bio/3030041485/)
6. [Celebrating the Living: Stuart Margolin, The Solute](https://www.the-solute.com/celebrating-the-living-stuart-margolin/)
7. [International Television Almanac 2014 – Who's Who](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-International-Television-Almanac/2014/International-Television-Almanac-2014-Whose-Who.pdf)
8. [Stuart Margolin, Emmy Awards and Nominations](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/stuart-margolin)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames M to Ma*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license