M. Emmet Walsh (1935-2024)

[Aunt Peg]

M. Emmet Walsh, 88, well known character actor (and one of the very best): https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/m-emme ... 235947723/

[beamish14]

M. Emmet Walsh, 88, well known character actor (and one of the very best): https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/m-emme ... 235947723/

Out of all of his many wonderful performances, Straight Time is probably my favorite

[therewillbeblus]

Wow, so many iconic roles.. The Jerk, Blood Simple.. but I think his performance as Keaton's sponsor in Clean and Sober is my favorite

[lacritfan]

Anyways, he’s got his saaandwich in one hand and the fucking head in the other.

[colinr0380]

So many great roles. Blood Simple might be the supreme one, where he gets to be a major player in the drama, but he was always a welcome presence as a supporting actor, whether amongst the ensemble cast in Airport '77, as a horse doctor pressed into service as a human doctor, or in Alan Rudolph's Equinox. After Blood Simple he turned up as a heavy/cop (usually both simultaneously) in a lot of thrillers for a while, like White Sands, Charles Burnett's The Glass Shield or the Paul Newman film Twilight from 1998. He's also the guy who sends Deckard out on his quest in Blade Runner and has a nice late role in the 2014 film Calvary.

Though one of his bigger roles is in that great twisty thriller adaptation of a Paul Auster novel The Music of Chance.

[Aunt Peg]

Another of his most memorable performances was in the little seen Fast-Walking (1982) directed by James B. Harris. He lets it all hang-out - literary!

Really wish Warners would up-grade this to Blu Ray.

Also, the Imprint edition of The Music of Chance includes a great interview with Walsh.

[beamish14]

Another of his most memorable performances was in the little seen Fast-Walking (1982) directed by James B. Harris. He lets it all hang-out - literary!

Really wish Warners would up-grade this to Blu Ray.

Also, the Imprint edition of The Music of Chance includes a great interview with Walsh.

Fast-Walking is excellent.

[domino harvey]

One of the great "That Guy"s. I'll always remember him best as the mayor of Stuckeyville, as his line that the position "ain't exactly a pressure gig" found its way into my lexicon

[therewillbeblus]

One of the great "That Guy"s. I'll always remember him best as the mayor of Stuckeyville, as his line that the position "ain't exactly a pressure gig" found its way into my lexicon

The nonchalant double-booking with nude painting is the best microcosm of the town's vibe

[swo17]

I'd say he was more than just "that." I always knew his name

[Mr Sausage]

You could also count on him to show up in low rent 80s action movies like Missing in Action and Red Scorpion, chomping a cigar or something, to lend some charm and life to the thing. And it worked--he invariably made those films more watchable.

[flyonthewall2983]

Effective on Roseanne playing off of John Goodman. I believe they were father and son again on The Righteous Gemstones.

[beamish14]

So many great roles. Blood Simple might be the supreme one, where he gets to be a major player in the drama, but he was always a welcome presence as a supporting actor, whether amongst the ensemble cast in Airport '77, as a horse doctor pressed into service as a human doctor, or in Alan Rudolph's Equinox. After Blood Simple he turned up as a heavy/cop (usually both simultaneously) in a lot of thrillers for a while, like White Sands, Charles Burnett's The Glass Shield or the Paul Newman film Twilight from 1998. He's also the guy who sends Deckard out on his quest in Blade Runner and has a nice late role in the 2014 film Calvary.

Though one of his bigger roles is in that great twisty thriller adaptation of a Paul Auster novel The Music of Chance.

I think his casting in Blade Runner is the only remnant of the Robert Mulligan/Dustin Hoffman version of the film, as Hoffman was a friend of his who also cast him in Straight Time. I forgot about how good he is in Calvary

[jazzo]

Wow, so many iconic roles.. The Jerk, Blood Simple.. but I think his performance as Keaton's sponsor in Clean and Sober is my favorite

It’s a terrific performance.

[therewillbeblus]

To be fair, everyone gives a terrific performance in that movie

[Drucker]

The word iconic gets thrown around far too much these days. However, hard to think of a better word for a man who required his salary to be paid daily in cash while working on Blood Simple according to the excellent commentary on that disc.

[Marwood]

I suppose you may be joking, but just in case you're not, the audio commentary on the MGM disc is a joke commentary. It states lots of outrageous things like that scenes were" shot upside down and backwards" and is purely for laughs. It' read by the TV actor George Ives pretending to be a film historian.

[Kracker]

There are way too many of his performances I probably haven't even gotten to, but the one that pops into mind first for me is his Tales From the Crypt episode where he's a new retiree not taking to his boring retirement while now being pestered by all the animals his wife takes in as pets, only to solve both problems by taking up taxidermy and stuffing all her animals, and if you know the show you already know how that ends up. :-&

[beamish14]

There are way too many of his performances I probably haven't even gotten to, but the one that pops into mind first for me is his Tales From the Crypt episode where he's a new retiree not taking to his boring retirement while now being pestered by all the animals his wife takes in as pets, only to solve both problems by taking up taxidermy and stuffing all her animals, and if you know the show you already know how that ends up. :-&

Ooh, yes. That season 1 episode directed by Mary Lambert. Unforgettable final shot with him

[Drucker]

I suppose you may be joking, but just in case you're not, the audio commentary on the MGM disc is a joke commentary. It states lots of outrageous things like that scenes were" shot upside down and backwards" and is purely for laughs. It' read by the TV actor George Ives pretending to be a film historian.

I'm referring to the selected scene commentary on the Criterion disc, which features the Coens and Barry Sonnenfeld.

[Swift]

Probably the first "that guy" who I became familiar with as a kid and then whose name I actually learned.