Ferris Bueller TV star dies at 78 as co-star shares heartfelt tribute

Richard Riehle, who played Principal Ed Rooney in the television series Ferris Bueller and became a comedy favorite in Office Space, has died at 78.

Friends of the actor told TMZ that he died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 15. The news was reported on Monday, October 19. 

His former Grounded for Life co-star Donal Logue shared an affectionate tribute on Instagram, remembering the actor who played his on-screen father. "Richard Riehle was an amazing human being," Donal wrote, recalling their years together on the sitcom. 

Richard Riehle played Principal Rooney in TV's Ferris Bueller

Richard took on the role of Principal Ed Rooney in the short-lived television adaptation of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

He appeared throughout the series as the school principal, a character played by Jeffrey Jones in the original 1986 movie. The television role was one of many that made Richard a familiar face to audiences across several generations. 

He later played Walt Finnerty, the father of Donal's character Sean, in Grounded for Life, which ran from 2001 to 2005. 

His television career also included appearances in The West Wing, ER, NCIS and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More recently, he played Warden Reynolds in two episodes of Barry in 2023. 

Richard Riehle's Office Space role and movie career

On the big screen, Richard was especially recognizable as anxious product manager Tom Smykowski in Mike Judge's 1999 comedy Office Space.

Working at the fictional company Initech, Tom struggled to explain his responsibilities to consultants assessing the staff. His dream of inventing a "Jump to Conclusions" mat became one of the film's most memorable jokes. 

Richard accumulated more than 400 screen credits, including appearances in Casino, The Fugitive, Fried Green Tomatoes and Bridesmaids, in which he played mechanic Bill Cozbi. 

Born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, he studied at the University of Notre Dame before earning an MFA at the University of Minnesota.

His early screen work included the 1975 John Wayne western Rooster Cogburn. He also maintained a stage career, making his Broadway debut in Execution of Justice in 1986 and later appearing in The Iceman Cometh and The Man Who Had All the Luck. 

Donal Logue remembers his Grounded for Life co-star

Donal's tribute offered a glimpse of the man behind those familiar performances. He recalled Richard making him laugh so hard during his final network audition for Grounded for Life that he broke character and fell to the floor.

Other memories were quieter: the classic novels Richard kept tucked into the back pocket of his slacks and his fondness for Los Angeles restaurant House of Pies.

Reflecting on the colleague he had spent five years working alongside, Donal wrote: "A consummate professional, he was an actor's actor,  humble, kind, and incredible at his craft."