M. Emmet Walsh

M. Emmet Walsh
Walsh at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Michael Emmet Walsh (1935-03-22)March 22, 1935 Ogdensburg, New York, U.S.
Died	St. Albans, Vermont, U.S.
Alma mater	Clarkson University, B.A. 1958
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–2024

Michael Emmet Walsh (March 22, 1935 – March 19, 2024) was an American character actor who appeared in over 200 films and television series, including small but important supporting roles such 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.

His other numerous film appearances include Midnight Cowboy (1969), Little Big Man (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Serpico (1973), The Gambler (1974), Bound for Glory (1976), Slap Shot (1977), Airport '77 (1977), Ordinary People (1980), Reds (1981), Silkwood (1983), 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).

Early life

Michael Emmet Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Katharine (née Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh Sr., a customs agent. He was of Irish descent. He was raised in rural Swanton, Vermont, where he underwent a mastoid operation at age 3, which left Walsh deaf in his left ear.

He graduated from Clarkson University in 1958 (B.A., Business Administration), and in 1998, the Clarkson Alumni Association presented Walsh with the Golden Knight Award. At Clarkson, Walsh had also dabbled in stage productions, and soon after--encouraged by a faculty advisor--he moved to New York City to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He went on to perform in regional theater for the next decade before making his Broadway debut in 1969, with Al Pacino, in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?

Career

After appearances in the films Midnight Cowboy (1969), Little Big Man (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Serpico (1973), The Gambler (1974), and Bound for Glory (1976), Walsh came to prominence in the iconic 1977 hockey comedy film Slap Shot, in which he played the cynical small town sportswriter Dickie Dunn, and the 1978 crime film Straight Time, in which he played a parole officer. He also had a small but memorable role as a crazed sniper in the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. One of his best-known roles was Captain Harry Bryant in Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner. His most acclaimed performance was arguably the double-crossing private detective in Blood Simple (1984), for which he won the first-ever Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, in 1986. In 1992, he appeared as a powerful U.S. Senator in David Winning's Killer Image.

Other prominent film roles include a doctor in the Chevy Chase film Fletch (1985), a college diving coach in the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School (1986), the horror film Critters (1986), Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996), the romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), the voice of Earl Stutz in animated film The Iron Giant (1999), the adventure film Snow Dogs (2002), and the Christmas comedy film Christmas with the Kranks, where he played one of the Kranks' neighbours. In 2019, he appeared in the mystery film Knives Out (2019).

On television, Walsh appeared as Alex Lembeck, a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton's chaperone and protector on The Sandy Duncan Show in 1972. He appeared in an episode of the NBC drama series Gibbsville in 1976 and Little House on the Prairie in 1981. 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. He also appeared as Dr. Joseph Krofft, a medical examiner with a grudge against Andy Sipowicz, on an episode of NYPD Blue.

On stage, in 2004, Walsh appeared in the London production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child.

Critic Nicolas Rapold called Walsh "a consummate old pro of the second-banana business", while Roger Ebert hailed him as "the poet of sleaze."

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.

Walsh said the following about himself, "My job is to come in and move the story along. The stars don’t do the exposition …So I come on with Redford or Newman or Dustin or somebody, and I throw the ball to them, and they throw it back, and it starts to become that tennis match, back and forth, and that’s what makes the dynamics of the whole thing. And I’m driving the movie forward. I just try to sublimate myself and get in there and do it... [If] you’re casting something, and you’ve got 12 problems; if they’ve got me, they only have 11 problems."

Death

Walsh died from a cardiac arrest in St. Albans, Vermont, on March 19, 2024, at the age of 88, three days before his 89th birthday.

Filmography

Film

Film appearances by M. Emmet Walsh

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Alice's Restaurant	Group W Sergeant
	Midnight Cowboy	Bus Passenger	Uncredited
	Stiletto	Racing Partner
1970	End of the Road	Crab Man / Tutu Man
	The Traveling Executioner	Warden Brodski
	Little Big Man	Shotgun Guard
1971	Cold Turkey	Art
	Escape from the Planet of the Apes	Aide to General Winthrop
	They Might Be Giants	1st Sanitation Man
1972	What's Up, Doc?	Arresting Officer
	Get to Know Your Rabbit	Mr. Wendel
1973	Kid Blue	Barber
	Serpico	Chief Gallagher
1974	The Gambler	Las Vegas Gambler
1975	At Long Last Love	Harold
	Crime Club	Harold
	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Joe
1976	Bound for Glory	Husband
	Nickelodeon	Father Logan
	The Invasion of Johnson County	Irvine
	Mikey and Nicky	Bus Driver
1977	Slap Shot	Dickie Dunn
	Airport '77	Dr. Williams
1978	Straight Time	Earl Frank
1979	The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh	Wally Cantrell
	The Jerk	Madman
1980	Brubaker	C.P. "Woody" Woodward
	Raise the Titanic	Master Chief Walker
	Ordinary People	Coach Salan
1981	Back Roads	Arthur
	Reds	Speaker At Liberal Club
1982	Cannery Row	Mack
	The Escape Artist	Fritz
	Blade Runner	Captain Bryant
	Fast-Walking	Sergeant Sanger
1983	Silkwood	Walt Yarborough
1984	Courage	Colonel Crouse
	Missing in Action	Jack "Tuck" Tucker
	Grandview, U.S.A.	Mr. Clark
	Blood Simple	Loren Visser
	The Pope of Greenwich Village	Burns
	Scandalous	Simon Reynolds
1985	Fletch	Dr. Joseph Dolan
1986	Wildcats	Walt Coes
	Critters	Harvey "Harv"
	The Best of Times	Charlie
	Vanishing America	Earl Crockett
	Back to School	Coach Turnbull
1987	Harry and the Hendersons	George Henderson Sr.
	No Man's Land	Captain Haun
	Raising Arizona	Machine Shop Ear-Bender
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Governor
	Clean and Sober	Richard Dirk
	Sunset	Chief Dibner
	War Party	Colin Ditwelier
	Red Scorpion	Dewey Ferguson
1989	The Mighty Quinn	CIA Agent Fred Miller
	Catch Me If You Can	Johnny Phatmun
	Chattahoochee	Morris
	Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat	Mort Bisby
	Thunderground	Wedge
1990	Narrow Margin	Sergeant Dominick Benti
1992	The Naked Truth	Garcia
	Killer Image	Senator John Kane
	White Sands	Bert Gibson
	Equinox	Pete Petosa
	Four Eyes and Six Guns	Mayor Thornbush
1993	Bitter Harvest	Sheriff Bob
	The Music of Chance	Calvin Murks
	Wilder Napalm	Fire Chief
1994	Dead Badge	Sergeant Miller Hoskins
	Relative Fear	Earl Ladelle
	Camp Nowhere	T.R. Polk
	The Glass Shield	Detective Jessie Hall
	Cops & Robbersons	Captain Ted Corbett	Uncredited
1995	Criminal Hearts	Martin
	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Bill Wilcox
	Panther	Dorsett
1996	Portraits of a Killer	Raymond Garrison
	Albino Alligator	Dino
	A Time to Kill	Dr. Bass	Uncredited
	William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet	Apothecary
1997	The Killing Jar	Sheriff Foley
	Retroactive	Sam
	My Best Friend's Wedding	Joe O'Neal
1998	Chairman of the Board	Freemont
	Twilight	Lester Ivar
	Erasable You	Ralph Worth
	Nightmare in Big Sky Country	US Marshal Phillips
1999	Wild Wild West	US Marshal Coleman
	The Iron Giant	Earl Stutz	Voice
	Random Hearts	Billy	Uncredited
	Me and Will	Dean
	Jack of Hearts	Commissioner Menlo Boyce
2000	Poor White Trash	Judge Pike
2001	Eyeball Eddie	Coach Cook	Short film
	Christmas in the Clouds	Stu O'Malley
2002	Snow Dogs	George Murphy
2003	Baggage	Sandy Westphall
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Walt Scheel
2005	Greener Mountain	Muggs
	Racing Stripes	Woodzie
2007	Man in the Chair	Mickey Hopkins
	Big Stan	Lew Popper
2008	Sherman's Way	Hoyt
	Your Name Here	Kroger / Maurice Stanz
	Haunted Echoes	Neil
2009	Don McKay	Samuel
	Sam Steele and the Jr. Detective Agency	Chief Van Owen
	Youth in Revolt	Mr. Saunders
2010	Chasing 3000	Chuck Ireland
2012	The Odd Life of Timothy Green	Bub
	Arthur Newman	Zazek
	Love Sick Love	Ed
2013	Cigar Man	Cigar Man	Short film
2014	Calvary	The Writer
2015	Boiling Pot	Dean Marison
	The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power	Gorak
2018	Shifting Gears	Hank
	Change in the Air	Walter Lemke
	Toto	Toto	Short film
2019	Raising Buchanan	Larry Kiesling
	Sorry, Not Sorry	Harry's Father	Short film
	Faith, Hope & Love	Mr. John
	Knives Out	Mr. Proofroc
	South of Bix	Grandpa	Short film
2020	The Mimic	The Director
2022	A Little White Lie	Professor Arthur Baldwin
	Dotty & Soul	Harold Eichelbaum
	The Immaculate Room	Harry Frith
2024	Outlaw Posse	Catfish

Television

Television appearances by M. Emmet Walsh

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	The Doctors	Jason Randall	Multiple episodes
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
	All in the Family	Billy Hartfield	Episode: "The Saga of Cousin Oscar"
	The Jimmy Stewart Show	Lionel Atkins	Episode: "Another Day, Another Scholar"
	Ironside	Telegraph Clerk	Episode: "Dear Fran..."
	Bonanza	Mattheson	Episode: "Warbonnet"
1971–1972	Nichols	Gabe McCutcheon	6 episodes
1972	The Don Rickles Show	Kingston	Episode: "The Moo Cow Child"
	The Bob Newhart Show	Jack Hoover	Episode: "P-I-L-O-T"
	The Sandy Duncan Show	Alex Lembeck	11 episodes
1974	Doctor Fran	Mr. Wallace	Television film
	McMillan & Wife	Officer Ames	Episode: "Buried Alive"
	Amy Prentiss	Tom	Episode: "Baptism of Fire"
1975	The Rockford Files	Edgar Burch	Episode: "Counter Gambit"
	Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic	Mr. Wallace	Television film
	The Waltons	David Fletcher	Episode: "The Venture"
1975–1976	Baretta	McDade / Potter	2 episodes
1976	Gibbsville	Yostie	Episode: "Afternoon Waltz"
1976–1978	Starsky and Hutch	Freddie / Lloyd Herman Eckworth	2 episodes
1977	Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman	Officer Malloy
	Red Alert	Sheriff Sweeney	Television film
1978	Superdome	Whitley
	James at 15	Coach Federson	Episode: "Queen of the Silver Dollar"
1979	The French Atlantic Affair	Harry	3 episodes
	Dear Detective	Captain Gorcey	Episode: "Pilot"
	No Other Love	DeFranco	Television film
	The Gift	Legion Commander
1980	City in Fear	Sheldon Lewis
	Skag	Moran	Episode: "Pilot"
	High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane	Harold Patton	Television film
1981	East of Eden	Sheriff Horace Quinn	3 episodes
	Little House on the Prairie	Callahan	Episode: "Chicago"
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Joe Lempke	Episode: "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
	Night Partners	Joe Kirby	Television film
1984	AfterMASH	Samuel Lynn	Episode: "The Case of the People of Florida vs. Joseph Landrum"
	The Outlaws	Warden MacDonald	Television film
1985	ABC Weekend Special	Rocco	Episode: "The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn"
	The Twilight Zone	Peter	Episode: "Dealer's Choice"
1986	The Hitchhiker	Detective Underhill	Episode: "Ghostwriter"
	The Right of the People	Mayor	Television film
	Resting Place	Sergeant
	The Disney Sunday Movie	General Presser	Episode: "Hero in the Family"
	The Deliberate Stranger	Detective Sam Davies	Television film
	Amazing Stories	Grandpa	Episode: "Magic Saturday"
1987	Broken Vows	Detective Mulligan	Television film
	The Abduction of Kari Swenson	Don Nichols
	Murder Ordained	Vern Humphrey	Miniseries
1989	Brotherhood of the Rose	Hardy	2 episodes
	Unsub	Ned Platt	8 episodes
	Tales from the Crypt	Jonas	Episode: "Collection Completed"
1990	True Betrayal	Clyde Wilson	Television film
	The Civil War	Various	Voice, 9 episodes
	The Flash	Henry Allen	2 episodes
1991	Deadly Identity	Harry	Television film
	Silverfox	Charles Blankenship
1992	Wild Card	Mose
1993	The Jackie Thomas Show	Arlen Thomas	Episode: "Aloha, Io-wahu"
1994	Home Improvement	Colonel Fred Patterson	2 episodes
	Probable Cause	Sadler	Television film
1995	From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler	Morris
1996	The Outer Limits	Sanford Vallé	Episode: "The Refuge"
	Early Edition	Santa Claus	Episode: "Christmas"
	Madness of Method	Rudolph Thorndyke	Television short film
1998	Tracey Takes On...	Jimmy Duff	Episode: "Sports"
	Men in White	Junior Assistant Dispatch Trainee Stanley Snyder	Television film
1999	The X-Files	Arthur Dales	Episode: "The Unnatural"
	The Wild Thornberrys	Gemsbok #1	Voice, episode: "Rain Dance"
	Monster!	Lloyd Reeves	Television film
1999–2001	Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot	Mack	Voice, 26 episodes
2000	NYPD Blue	Joe Kroft	Episode: "Roll Out the Barrel"
	Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family	Aubrey Lang	Episode: "The Book of Danny"
	Ed	Mayor Wally Kendricks	Episode: "Home Is Where the Ducks Are"
2001	Gideon's Crossing	Dr. George Matthews	Episode: "A Routine Case"
	Night Visions	Gus	Episode: "Reunion"
	The Mind of the Married Man	Randall Evans	5 episodes
	Frasier	Rich Koechner	Episode: "Bully for Martin"
2002	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Jeb	Voice, episode: "Scooby-Doo Christmas"
2003	Charlie Lawrence	Cubby	Episode: "New Kid in School"
	Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales	Wally Westland	Television special
	The Guardian	Ezra Pence	Episode: "Big Coal"
2010	'Til Death	Uncle Rudolph	Episode: "Let's Go"
2010–2013	Pound Puppies	Olaf	Voice, 46 episodes
2012	Army Wives	Bernie Wolzoczak	Episode: "Battle Scars"
	Damages	Lyle Hewes	3 episodes
2012–2015	Adventure Time	Cosmic Owl	Voice, 4 episodes
2014	Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories	Detective	Episode: "Toes"
2015	Empire	Harold Blakeley	Episode: "The Lyon's Roar"
2019	Sneaky Pete	"Tex" Hopkins	7 episodes
2019–2022	The Righteous Gemstones	Grandaddy Roy Gemstone	2 episodes
2022	American Gigolo	Coleman	Episode: "Sunday Girl"

External links

• M. Emmet Walsh at the Internet Movie Database
• M. Emmet Walsh at the TCM Movie Database