M. Emmet Walsh

Michael Emmet Walsh (March 22, 1935 – March 19, 2024) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 films and television series, including supporting roles as Earl Frank in Straight Time (1978), the Madman in The Jerk (1979), Captain Bryant in Blade Runner (1982), Harv in Critters (1986), and Walt Scheel in Christmas with the Kranks (2004). He starred as private detective Loren Visser in Blood Simple (1984), the Coen brothers' first film, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

M. Emmet Walsh
Walsh in 2007
Born	Michael Emmet Walsh (1935-03-22)March 22, 1935 Ogdensburg, New York, US
Died	March 19, 2024(2024-03-19) (aged 88) St. Albans, Vermont, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Saint Albans, Vermont, U.S.
Education	Clarkson University (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–2024

Walsh's other numerous film appearances include Little Big Man (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Serpico (1973), The Gambler (1974), Bound for Glory (1976), Slap Shot (1977), Airport '77 (1977), Brubaker (1980), Ordinary People (1980), Reds (1981), Silkwood (1983), Missing in Action (1984), Fletch (1985), Back to School (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Romeo + Juliet (1996), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), The Iron Giant (1999), Calvary (2014), and Knives Out (2019). Over five decades as a character actor, he credited roles in more than 220 films and television shows.^[1]

Early life, family and education

Michael Emmet Walsh was born on March 22, 1935, in Ogdensburg, New York,^[2] the son of Agnes Katharine (née Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh Sr., who was a customs agent, as were his grandfather and brother.^[3] He was of Irish descent, and was raised in rural Swanton, Vermont, where he underwent a mastoid operation at age 3, which left Walsh deaf in his left ear.^[4]

Walsh graduated from Clarkson University in 1958 (B.A., Business Administration), where he dabbled in stage productions.^[5] Encouraged by a faculty advisor, he moved to New York City to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Walsh performed in regional theater in the 1960s, first as a prop man.^[5] He made his Broadway debut in 1969, with Al Pacino, in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?.^[4] Many years later, in 2004, Walsh appeared in the London production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child.^[4]

According to his manager, Sandy Joseph, "Walsh's tremendous body of work includes 119 feature films and more than 250 television productions."^[6] Being partially deaf in one ear and with an accent harkening from Vermont made it clear to Walsh: "I wasn't going to do Shaw and Shakespeare and Molière — my speech was simply too bad."^[4] His persona was a "mesmerising everyman and an indelible gargoyle" who featured "poached-egg eyes."^[1]

Walsh specialized in playing villains who were blissfully oblivious to their villainy.^[7] He brought a "delightfully menacing presence" to his characters.^[8] He was a no-nonsense worker bee in the film industry. Walsh characterized himself as approaching "each job thinking it might be my last, so it better be the best work possible. I want to be remembered as a working actor. I'm being paid for what I'd do for nothing."^[2]

Walsh spent years honing his craft in movie bit parts and on stage. His first appearance in films was uncredited in Midnight Cowboy (1969),^[5][1] followed by Alice's Restaurant (1969),^[1][2] Little Big Man (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), They Might Be Giants (1971),^[2] What's Up, Doc? (1972),^[2] Serpico (1973),^[2] The Gambler (1974), Bound for Glory (1976), and Airport '77 (1977),^[7] Walsh came to prominence in the iconic 1977 hockey comedy film Slap Shot, in which he played the cynical small town sportswriter Dickie Dunn,^[1][2][9] and the 1978 crime film Straight Time, in which he played a vicious parole officer opposite Dustin Hoffman.^[1][2] USA Today film critic Mike Clark wrote that the film character who was "a cesspool in a flowered shirt" was typically Walsh.^[10][11] He also had a small but memorable role as a crazed sniper in the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk (1979),^[1][2] followed by roles in the drama films Brubaker (1980),^[2] Ordinary People (1980),^[2] and Reds (1981).^[12][13]

Bigger roles

One of his best-known roles was Captain Harry Bryant in Ridley Scott's science fiction cult film Blade Runner (1982).^[1][14] He characterized Blade Runner as being especially difficult and tiresome to make, given director Ridley Scott's insistence on perfection. As a hard-bitten police commander, Walsh's character brings Deckard (Harrison Ford) out of retirement to "retire" cyborgs,^[15] telling Deckard, "I need your magic."^[7] Walsh allowed that he was completely confused as Blade Runner was filmed, and did not have any idea where it was going.^[14][7]

In 1983, Walsh appeared in Mike Nichols' biographical film Silkwood. In 1984, he was cast as a crooked Texas private eye in the film noir Blood Simple, which was the Coen brothers' first film^[1] and resulted in Walsh winning the first Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.^[16] Pauline Kael praised Walsh's performance: "his broad buffoonery helps to ground the picture, to keep it jaundiced and low-down."^[17] He then reteamed with the Coen brothers for Raising Arizona as a memorable "yakking machine shop worker".^[7]

Other film roles include a prostate examining doctor in the Chevy Chase film Fletch (1985),^[1][16] a college diving coach in the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School (1986), a police chief in the horror film Critters (1986), John Lithgow’s father in the Bigfoot comedy Harry and the Hendersons (1987),^[1] the apothecary in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996),^[1] father of the groom in the romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997),^[1] the voice of Earl Stutz in animated film The Iron Giant (1999),^[1] the adventure film Snow Dogs (2002), and the Christmas comedy film Christmas with the Kranks (2004), where he played one of the Kranks' neighbors.^[1] In 1992, he appeared as a US senator in David Winning's Canadian film Killer Image. He later appeared as a writer in the Irish comedy-drama film Calvary (2014),^[1][18] and a security guard in the mystery film Knives Out (2019).^[1][6]

Television

Walsh (top left) as Alex Lembeck on The Sandy Duncan Show in 1972

On television, in September 1971, Walsh appeared in Season 2, Episode 1 of All in the Family and also appeared as Alex Lembeck, a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton's chaperone and protector on The Sandy Duncan Show in 1972.^[19] He appeared in an episode of the NBC drama series Gibbsville in 1976 and Little House on the Prairie in 1981.^[18] Walsh also made occasional guest appearances on Home Improvement as Tim Taylor's father-in-law in 1994. Other appearances included Early Edition, The X-Files, Ed, and Frasier.^[1] He also appeared as Dr. Joseph Krofft, a medical examiner with a grudge against Andy Sipowicz, on an episode of NYPD Blue.^[20] Later appearances included the series Sneaky Pete^[21] and The Righteous Gemstones.^[3]

He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and The Television Academy.^[5]

Legacy and accolades

In 1998, the Clarkson Alumni Association presented Walsh with its Golden Knight Award.^[5]

Critic Nicolas Rapold called Walsh "a consummate old pro of the second-banana business", while movie critic Roger Ebert hailed him as "the poet of sleaze".^[4] Ebert also fabricated his "Stanton-Walsh Rule": "No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad."^[1] Walsh was "ham-faced, heavyset" and "often played good old boys with bad intentions".^[22]

In 2018, Walsh was inducted into the Character Actor Hall of Fame by his Blade Runner co-star Harrison Ford. Later in the same ceremony, he received the Chairman's Lifetime Achievement Award.^[4]

Walsh established the Blarney Fund Education Trust in 1979 to provide scholarships for college to needy high school graduates in the Swanton, Vermont, area.^[2]

Personal life and death

Walsh had a reputation for generosity and wry wit. He habitually distributed two-dollar bills to the set's crew, with some advice: "Don't spend it, and you'll never be broke."^[11]

Walsh died of cardiac arrest at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, Vermont, on March 19, 2024, three days before his 89th birthday.^[2][6][7]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	References
1969	Alice's Restaurant	Group W Sergeant		[1][23][2]
	Midnight Cowboy	Bus Passenger	Uncredited	[1]
	Stiletto	Unknown		[24]
1970	End of the Road	Crab Man / Tutu Man		[18]
	The Traveling Executioner	Warden Brodski		[18]
	Little Big Man	Shotgun Guard		[25][2]
1971	Cold Turkey	Art		[26]
	Escape from the Planet of the Apes	Aide to General Winthrop		[18][2]
	They Might Be Giants	1st Sanitation Man		[1][2]
1972	What's Up, Doc?	Arresting Officer		[2][18]
	Get to Know Your Rabbit	Mr. Wendel		[21]
1973	Kid Blue	Barber		[21]
	Serpico	Chief Gallagher		[18][2]
1974	The Gambler	Las Vegas Gambler		[18]
1975	At Long Last Love	Harold		[18]
	Crime Club	Lieutenant Jack Doyle		[18]
	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Joe		[27]
1976	Bound for Glory	Husband		[28]
	Nickelodeon	Father Logan		[18]
	The Invasion of Johnson County	Irvine		[18]
	Mikey and Nicky	Bus Driver		[29]
1977	Slap Shot	Dickie Dunn		[1][2][9][18]
	Airport '77	Dr. Williams		[18]
1978	Straight Time	Earl Frank		[1][2][18]
1979	The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh	Wally Cantrell		[30][31]
	The Jerk	Madman		[1][2][18]
1980	Brubaker	C.P. "Woody" Woodward		[32]
	Raise the Titanic	Master Chief Walker		[18]
	Ordinary People	Coach Salan		[18][2]
1981	Back Roads	Arthur		[18]
	Reds	Speaker At Liberal Club		[12][13]
1982	Cannery Row	Mack		[18]
	The Escape Artist	Fritz		[18]
	Blade Runner	Captain Bryant		[1][14][18]
	Fast-Walking	Sergeant Sanger		[33]
1983	Silkwood	Walt Yarborough		[18]
1984	Raw Courage	Colonel Crouse		[18][34]
	Missing in Action	Jack "Tuck" Tucker		[18]
	Grandview, U.S.A.	Mr. Clark		[35]
	Blood Simple	Loren Visser, PI		[1][18]
	The Pope of Greenwich Village	Burns		[18]
	Scandalous	Simon Reynolds		[18]
1985	Fletch	Dr. Joseph Dolan		[1][18]
1986	Wildcats	Walt Coes		[18]
	Critters	Harvey "Harv"		[1][18]
	The Best of Times	Charlie		[18]
	Back to School	Coach Turnbull		[36]
1987	Harry and the Hendersons	George Henderson Sr.		[1]
	No Man's Land	Captain Haun		[18]
	Raising Arizona	Machine Shop Ear-Bender		[1][18]
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Governor		[18]
	Clean and Sober	Richard Dirk		[1][18]
	Sunset	Chief Marvin Dibner		[18]
	War Party	Colin Ditwelier		[18]
	Red Scorpion	Dewey Ferguson		[18]
1989	The Mighty Quinn	CIA Agent Fred Miller		[18]
	Catch Me If You Can	Johnny Phatmun		[18]
	Chattahoochee	Morris		[18]
	Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat	Mort		[18]
	Thunderground	Wedge		[37]
1990	Narrow Margin	Sergeant Dominick Benti		[18]
1992	The Naked Truth	Garcia/Gesundheim		[38]
	Killer Image	John Kane		[18]
	White Sands	Bert Gibson		[18][39]
	Equinox	Pete Petosa		[18]
	Four Eyes and Six Guns	Mayor Thornbush		[40]
1993	Bitter Harvest	Sheriff Bob		[18]
	The Music of Chance	Calvin Murks		[18]
	Wilder Napalm	Fire Chief		[18]
1994	Dead Badge	Sergeant Miller Hoskins		[18]
	Relative Fear	Earl Ladelle		[18]
	Camp Nowhere	T.R. Polk		[41]
	The Glass Shield	Hal		[18]
	Cops & Robbersons	Unknown	Uncredited	[42]
1995	Criminal Hearts	Martin		[18]
	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Wilcox		[18]
	Panther	Dorsett		[18]
1996	Portraits of a Killer	Raymond Garrison		[43]
	Albino Alligator	Dino		[18]
	A Time to Kill	Dr. Willard Tyrell Bass	Uncredited	[18]
	William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet	Apothecary		[1]
1997	The Killing Jar	Sheriff Foley		[18]
	Retroactive	Sam		[18]
	My Best Friend's Wedding	Joe O'Neal		[1][18]
1998	Chairman of the Board	Freemont		[18]
	Twilight	Lester Ivar		[18]
	Erasable You	Ralph Worth		[18]
	Nightmare in Big Sky Country	US Marshal Phillips		[18]
1999	Wild Wild West	Train Engineer Coleman		[18]
	The Iron Giant	Earl Stutz	Voice	[18][44]
	Random Hearts	Billy	Uncredited	[45]
	Me and Will	Dean		[18]
	Jack of Hearts	Commissioner Menlo Boyce		[18]
2000	Poor White Trash	Judge Pike		[18]
2001	Eyeball Eddie	Coach Cook	Short film	[18]
	Christmas in the Clouds	Stu O'Malley		[18]
2002	Snow Dogs	George		[18]
2003	Baggage	Sandy Westphall		[46]
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Walt Scheel		[18]
2005	Greener Mountain	Muggs		[18]
	Racing Stripes	Woodzie		[18]
2007	Man in the Chair	Mickey Hopkins		[18]
	Big Stan	Lew Popper		[18]
2008	Sherman's Way	Hoyt		[18]
	Your Name Here	Kroger		[18]
	Haunted Echoes	Neil		[18]
2009	Don McKay	Samuel		[18]
	Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency	Chief Van Owen		[18]
	Youth in Revolt	Mr. Saunders		[47]
2010	Chasing 3000	Chuck Ireland		[18]
2012	The Odd Life of Timothy Green	Uncle Bub		[48]
	Arthur Newman	Zazek		[49]
	Love Sick Love	Ed		[18]
2014	Calvary	Old Man		[1][18]
2015	Boiling Pot	Dean Marison		[18]
	The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power	Gorak		[50]
2018	Shifting Gears	Hank		[18]
	Change in the Air	Walter Lemke		[18]
2019	Raising Buchanan	Larry Kiesling		[18]
	Faith, Hope & Love	Mr. John		[18]
	Knives Out	Mr. Proofroc		[1]
	South of Bix	Grandpa	Short film	[18]
2020	The Mimic	The Director		[18]
2022	A Little White Lie	Professor Arthur Baldwin		[39]
	Dotty & Soul	Harold Eichelbaum		[18]
	The Immaculate Room	Harry Frith		[51]
2024	Outlaw Posse	Catfish		[1][18]
	Brothers	Judge Farful	Posthumous release
2025	Green and Gold	Scotty

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	References
1968	The Doctors	Jason Randall	Soap opera
1969	N.Y.P.D.	Freibisch	Episode: "Who's Got the Bundle?"
1970	Arnie	Cliff	Episode: "To Buy or Not to Buy?"
1971	Julia	Gus Anderson	2 episodes	[52]
	All in the Family	Billy Hartfield	Episode: "The Saga of Cousin Oscar"	[2]
	The Jimmy Stewart Show	Lionel Atkins	Episode: "Another Day, Another Scholar"	[53]
	Ironside	Telegraph Clerk	Episode: "Dear Fran..."	[2][21]
	Bonanza	Mattheson	Episode: "Warbonnet"	[2][21]
1971–1972	Nichols	Gabe McCutcheon	5 episodes	[54]
1972	The Don Rickles Show	Arthur Kingston	Episode #1.4	[55]
	The Bob Newhart Show	Jack Hoover	Episode: "P-I-L-O-T"	[2][18]
	The Sandy Duncan Show	Alex Lembeck	11 episodes	[19]
1974	McMillan & Wife	Officer Ames	Episode: "Buried Alive"	[2]
	Amy Prentiss	Tom	Episode: "Baptism of Fire"	[56]
1975	The Rockford Files	Edgar Burch	Episode: "Counter Gambit"	[2][21]
	Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic	Mr. Peterson	Television film	[18]
	The Waltons	David Fletcher	Episode: "The Venture"	[2][21]
1976	Gibbsville	Yostie	Episode: "Afternoon Waltz"	[18]
1976–1978	Starsky and Hutch	Freddie / Lloyd Herman Eckworth	2 episodes	[1][2]
1977	Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman	Officer Malloy		[2]
	Red Alert	Sheriff Sweeney	Television film	[18]
1978	Superdome	Whitley		[18]
	James at 15	Coach Federson	Episode: "Queen of the Silver Dollar"	[2][57]
1979	Dear Detective	Captain Gorcey	Episode: "Pilot"	[58]
	No Other Love	DeFranco	Television film	[59]
	The Gift	Commander		[60]
1980	City in Fear	Sheldon Lewis		[18]
	Skag	Moran	Episode: "Pilot"	[61]
	High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane	Harold Patton	Television film	[18]
1981	East of Eden	Sheriff Horace Quinn	3 episodes	[62]
	Little House on the Prairie	Callahan	Episode: "Chicago"	[18]
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Joe Lempke	Episode: "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"	[63]
	Night Partners	Joe Kirby	Television film	[18]
1984	The Outlaws	Warden MacDonald	Television film	[64]
1985	ABC Weekend Special	Rocco	Episode: "The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn"	[65]
	The Twilight Zone	Peter	Episode: "Dealer's Choice"	[66]
1986	The Hitchhiker	Detective Underhill	Episode: "Ghostwriter"	[67]
	The Right of the People	Mayor	Television film	[68]
	Resting Place	Sergeant		[69]
	The Disney Sunday Movie	General Presser	Episode: "Hero in the Family"	[70]
	The Deliberate Stranger	Detective Sam Davies	Television film	[71]
	Amazing Stories	Grandpa	Episode: "Magic Saturday"	[72]
1987	Broken Vows	Detective Mulligan	Television film	[73][74]
	The Abduction of Kari Swenson	Don Nichols		[18]
	Murder Ordained	Vern Humphrey	Miniseries	[18]
1989	Brotherhood of the Rose	Hardy	2 episodes	[18]
	Unsub	Ned Platt	8 episodes	[75]
	Tales from the Crypt	Jonas	Episode: "Collection Completed"	[21][76]
1990	True Betrayal	Clyde Wilson	Television film	[18]
	The Civil War	Various roles	Voice, 9 episodes	[2]
	The Flash	Henry Allen	2 episodes	[18]
1991	Deadly Identity	Harry	Television film	[18]
	Silverfox	Charles Blankenship		[77]
1992	Wild Card	Mose		[78][79]
1993	The Jackie Thomas Show	Arlen Thomas	Episode: "Aloha, Io-wahu"	[80]
1994	Home Improvement	Colonel Fred Patterson	2 episodes	[1]
	Probable Cause	Sadler	Television film	[21]
1995	From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler	Morris		[81]
1996	The Outer Limits	Sanford Vallé	Episode: "The Refuge"	[18]
	Early Edition	Santa Claus	Episode: "Christmas"	[82][83]
1998	Tracey Takes On...	Jimmy Duff	Episode: "Sports"	[2]
	Men in White	Stanley Snyder	Television film	[84]
1999	The X-Files	Arthur Dales	Episode: "The Unnatural"	[18]
	The Wild Thornberrys	Gemsbok #1	Voice, episode: "Rain Dance"	[44][2]
	Monster!	Lloyd	Television film	[18]
1999–2001	Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot	Mack	Voice, 26 episodes	[2][21]
2000	NYPD Blue	Joe Kroft	Episode: "Roll Out the Barrel"	[18]
	Gideon's Crossing	Dr. George Matthews	Episode: "A Routine Case"	[18]
2001	Night Visions	Gus	Episode: "Reunion"	[85][86]
	The Mind of the Married Man	Randall Evans	5 episodes	[87]
	Frasier	Rich Koechner	Episode: "Bully for Martin"	[1]
2002	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Jeb	Voice, episode: "Scooby-Doo Christmas"	[21][88]
2003	Charlie Lawrence	Cubby	Episode: "New Kid in School"	[89][90]
	Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales	Wally Westland	Television special	[91]
	The Guardian	Ezra Pence	Episode: "Big Coal"	[92]
2006	The X's	Stanley (voice)	Episode: "In-Law Enforcement"	[44]
2010	'Til Death	Uncle Rudolph	Episode: "Let's Go"	[93][21]
2010–2013	Pound Puppies	Olaf	Voice, 46 episodes	[44]
2012	Army Wives	Bernie Wallacheck	Episode: "Battle Scars"	[18]
	Damages	Lyle Hewes	3 episodes	[94]
2012–2015	Adventure Time	Cosmic Owl	Voice, 4 episodes	[1][44][2]
2014	Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories	Detective	Episode: "Toes"	[95]
2019	Sneaky Pete	"Tex" Hopkins	7 episodes	[21]
2019–2022	The Righteous Gemstones	Grandaddy Roy Gemstone	2 episodes	[1]
2022	American Gigolo	Coleman	Episode: "Sunday Girl"	[4]