David Margulies, ‘Ghostbusters’ Mayor, Is Dead At 78 – Cause Of Death Unknown


David Margulies, veteran character actor, has died on Monday, January 11, 2016, Broadway World reports. The cause of his death is currently unknown.

David Margulies was born to parents Runya and Harry David Margulies in Brooklyn, New York, on February 19, 1937. His mother was a nurse and museum worker, and his father was a lawyer. Margulies graduated from City College of New York, then made his way into acting, landing a role in his stage debut in the off-Broadway play Golden 6, in 1958.

David Margulies, 'Ghostbusters' Mayor, Is Dead - Cause Of Death Unknown
Lois Smith and David Margulies attend Katori Hall’s “Hurt Village” opening night party on February 27, 2012 in New York City. [Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]
https://twitter.com/JennaStern/status/686924109670920192

But the acting career of David Margulies became even more successful career once he hit Broadway, where Margulies debuted in 1973 in a revival of The Iceman Cometh. He also appeared in Conversations With My Father, Angels in America: Perestroika, as the character Roy Cohn, and Wonderful Town.

David is probably best known for a few small roles in films such as the classic ’80s comedy Ghostbusters. Margulies played the mayor of New York City in the film, and came back to reprise that role in the 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II.

“If I’m wrong, nothing happens! We go to jail – peacefully, quietly. We’ll enjoy it! But if I’m right, and we can stop this thing… Lenny, you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters,” Bill Murray’s character Dr. Peter Venkman told Margulies’ Mayor character.

David Margulies managed to land several roles on several TV shows, including The Sopranos, playing the role of Tony Soprano’s lawyer Neil Mink, throughout the several-year run of the popular HBO series, according to the actors IMDb page. David also appeared on Northern Exposure, Touched by an Angel as well as Law and Order. The actor also played small roles on Kojak, Chicago Hope, NYPD Blue, Chicago Hope, and The Good Wife in 2012. Three years later in 2015, he played Dr. Eric Setrakian on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in an episode called “Granting Immunity.” In the same year, David had a role in the Showtime television series Happyish, with Kathryn Hahn, Steve Coogan, and Sawyer Shipman.

David Margulies’ death arises just as his final role as writer-activist Elie Wisel, one of Bernie Madoff’s fraud victims, in the upcoming ABC miniseries is being released next month. It stars Richard Dreyfuss as Bernie Madoff and Blythe Danner playing his wife, Ruth. The television movie will be based on Bernie Madoff’s rise and fall and the financier’s Ponzi scheme that pulled $65 billion from several unsuspecting victims. In real life, Ruth was able to negotiate a deal with prosecutors to keep $2.5 million of Bernie’s fraudulent money following his arrest. Other cast members include Charles Grodin as Carl Shapiro, comedian Lewis Black as Ezra Merkin) and Erin Cummings as Madoff’s longtime secretary Eleanor Squillari.

Madoff premieres Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Margulies also had the role of Jacob in License Plates, a drama set to release in May of 2016, with Robert Gorrie, Ashley Nicole Anderson and Keenan Jolliff.

David Margulies, 'Ghostbusters' Mayor, Is Dead - Cause Of Death Unknown
David Margulies and Anna Chlumsky at the all-star reading of “Hamlet,” February 21, 2012 in New York City. [Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images]
David Margulies also had a role in the 2014 film A Most Violent Year, which starred Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain and David Oyelowo. The film is a crime drama that was set in New York City during the winter of 1981, which has been recorded as one of the most violent years in the New York City’s history. The story revolves around the lives of an immigrant and his family as they attempt to expand their business and take any opportunity that comes their way, as violence in the city increases.

[Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images]

Share this article: David Margulies, ‘Ghostbusters’ Mayor, Is Dead At 78 – Cause Of Death Unknown
More from Inquisitr