Breaking Bad actor Mike Batayeh dies aged 52

Mike Batayeh, known for playing the manager of a laundromat turned meth lab in Breaking Bad, has died aged 52, US media reported.

The actor and comedian’s family told TMZ he died at home in Michigan in his sleep on 1 June after a heart attack.

Batayeh did not have a history of heart issues, according to the family, describing his death as very sudden.

“He will be greatly missed by those who loved him” and others who enjoyed his career, his family said in a statement.

Batayeh appeared in three episodes of the AMC hit drama series Breaking Bad in 2011 – the series ran between 2008 and 2013.

In the show, Batayeh was known as Dennis Markowski, the manager of Lavandería Brillante industrial laundromat – a notorious coverup for a massive meth lab operation.

Batayeh was also a comedian and voice actor.

Throughout his career he made appearances in multiple movies including American Dreamz and Detroit Unleaded, and on TV shows including The Bernie Mac Show and CSI: Miami.

He also had a voice acting role in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Batayeh is survived by five siblings and a large extended family, according to an online obituary.

Colleagues and co-stars paid tribute to him.

“A devastating loss of a huge life – Mike Batayeh, you were everybody’s friend,” Hollywood director and friend Rola Nashef wrote on Facebook.

“And I mean everybody. There isn’t a person that I introduced you to or a waitress that took our order whom you didn’t make laugh, think, inspire and root for.”

“You were the superstar we always admired and one of the funniest men I’ve ever known,” wrote Yorg Kerasiotis, Batayeh’s co-star on Detroit Unleaded, “please rest in peace”.