M. Emmet Walsh, Sublime Character Actor Who Elevated Every Film He Appeared In, Has Died At 88
M. Emmet Walsh, the legendary and distinctive actor who left his mark in such varied films as BLADE RUNNER, BLOOD SIMPLE, SLAP SHOT, and BACK TO SCHOOL, died from cardiac arrest Tuesday in his home state of Vermont at the age of 88.
Equally adept at portraying a menacing baddie or a genteel everyman, Walsh brought his singular talent to every role and made everything he was in better. With his instantly-recognizable voice and face along with his intimidating presence in so many beloved movies, Walsh has a hell of a case to be considered the greatest character actor in the history of the medium.
Born in New York, Walsh was raised northern Vermont and headed for Broadway after college, eventually finding himself on stage, then TV, and finally the medium where he would leave his unrepeatable imprint on moviegoers over seven decades. Starting as an uncredited bus passenger on the boomer classic THE GRADUATE and popping up in vintage '70s NYC grime flicks like SERPICO and THE GAMBLER, it was a classic character actor role that would forever make him a part of hockey culture and provider of one of the movie's countless repeated lines.
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Walsh's turn as Dickie Dunn in SLAP SHOT didn't propel his career to new heights (1978's Dustin Hoffman vehicle STRAIGHT TIME did that), rather it made him part of one of the most beloved sports movies and best hockey movie ever made. But the puck classic is just one of the iconic titles that was enhanced by Walsh's presence.
He hated oil cans in THE JERK, was Harrison Ford's dickhead boss in BLADE RUNNER, and then signed up to earn just a per diem for his pay to make a wing-and-a-prayer movie in dusty Texas with two brothers who would go on to become perhaps the most inventive and brilliant duo in Hollywood history. And it was in 1984's BLOOD SIMPLE where Walsh gifted us with his finest work.
Playing a duplicitous and dangerous PI in perhaps that decade's best noir offering, Walsh's phony charisma and Southern-fried menace elevated the low-budget dream of Joel and Ethan Coen to another level that not only propelled the siblings's careers but also showed just how friggin' great of an actor Walsh was.
After putting up finger up Chevy Chase's ass in FLETCH then popping up in a pair of football movies--THE BEST OF TIMES and WILDCATS --he appeared in the Rodney Dangerfield classic BACK TO SCHOOL as the Melon's affable diving coach. Walsh had a brief spot in RAISING ARIZONA, sponsored Michael Keaton in CLEAN AND SOBER, then continued to pepper screens both big (super-sized Col. Sanders in A TIME TO KILL) and small (NYPD Blue) in a prolific career that earned him 233 credits on IMDb.
Actors like Walsh don't grow on trees and unique presences like his seem to be in short supply in today's film industry. Which is why film aficionados cherish performers like him, the dabs of glue that not only hold a movie together and but enhance it as well.
By God, M. Emmet Walsh remains the standard and his legacy sits in its own place.
I extend deepest condolences to his family and friends.