By ANDREW DALTON (AP Entertainment Writer)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — M. Emmet Walsh, the character actor recognized for his distinctive face and eerie presence in movies such as “Blood Simple” and “Blade Runner,” has died at the age of 88, according to his manager's announcement on Wednesday.
Walsh died due to cardiac arrest on Tuesday at a hospital in St. Albans, Vermont, as confirmed by his longtime manager Sandy Joseph.
The heavyset and distinctive Walsh frequently portrayed Southern men with nefarious intentions, as seen in one of his rare leading roles as a corrupt Texas private investigator in the Coen brothers' debut film, the 1984 neo-noir “Blood Simple.”
Joel and Ethan Coen revealed that they designed the role specifically for Walsh, who later earned the first Film Independent Spirit Award for best male lead for his performance.
Critics and film enthusiasts savored the moments when he made appearances on screen.
Roger Ebert once noted that “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.”
Walsh portrayed a deranged sniper in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy “The Jerk” and a doctor conducting a prostate exam in the 1985 Chevy Chase film “Fletch.”
In 1982's intense “Blade Runner,” a film he described as exhausting and challenging to create with the perfectionist director Ridley Scott, Walsh depicts a tough police captain who convinces Harrison Ford to come out of retirement to hunt down cyborgs.
Originally named Michael Emmet Walsh, his roles often led people to believe he was from the American South, despite actually hailing from further north.
Walsh grew up on Lake Champlain in Swanton, Vermont, just a short distance from the U.S.-Canadian border, where his grandfather, father and brother worked as customs officers.
He attended a small local high school with a graduating class of 13, followed by Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, before continuing on to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
For a period of ten years, he focused solely on stage performances, with no intention of pursuing other avenues, while working in summer stock and repertory companies.
Walsh gradually began appearing in films in 1969 with a minor role in “Alice's Restaurant,” and didn't start taking on significant roles until nearly a decade later in his 40s, achieving a breakthrough with 1978's “Straight Time,” in which he portrayed Dustin Hoffman's smug and boorish parole officer.
While filming “Silkwood” with Meryl Streep in Dallas in the fall of 1982, Walsh received an offer for “Blood Simple” from the Coen brothers, aspiring filmmakers who had seen and admired his work in “Straight Time.”
“My agent contacted me about a script written by some young individuals for a low-budget film,” Walsh shared with The Guardian in 2017. “It was a role akin to Sydney Greenstreet, complete with a Panama suit and hat. I found it to be quite enjoyable and interesting. They were located 100 miles away in Austin, so I traveled down there one day prior to the start of filming.”
Walsh mentioned that the filmmakers didn't even have enough funds remaining to fly him to New York for the premiere, but he was astonished that first-time filmmakers had produced something of such high quality.
He said he saw it a few days later when it premiered in LA, and he was very surprised. Suddenly, his price went up five times, and everyone wanted to work with him.
In the movie, he portrays Loren Visser, a detective who is hired to follow a man's wife, and then is offered money to murder her and her lover.
Visser also serves as the storyteller, and the opening speech, spoken in a Texas accent, included some of Walsh’s most famous lines.
“Now, in Russia they have it arranged so that everyone supports each other. That's the idea, at least,” Visser says. “But what I know about is Texas. And down here, you’re on your own.”
He continued to work well into his late 80s, appearing on TV shows like “The Righteous Gemstones” and “American Gigolo.”
His extensive filmography includes roles in director Rian Johnson’s 2019 family murder mystery, “Knives Out,” and director Mario Van Peebles’ Western “Outlaw Posse,” which came out this year.
Johnson was one of those honoring Walsh on social media.
“Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew,” Johnson tweeted. “’Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.’ Absolute legend.”
