M. Emmet Walsh, the character actor known for major supporting roles in Hollywood hits like” Blade Runner” and” Knives Out”, has died at 88, according to the New York Post.
Walsh’s lover Sandy Joseph confirmed that the Ogdensburg, New York native died of a heart attack while receiving care at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, Vermont.
In her statement, Joseph included Walsh’s personal reflections on his job spanning six decades and” a great body of work includes 119 have films and more than 250 broadcast productions”.
” I approach each task with the hope that it will be my last, so it must be the best possible work.” As a working professional, I want to be remembered. I’m being paid for what I’d do for nothing”, Walsh said.
In 1969, he earned his first acting job with the movie” Alice’s Restaurant,” impressing the director enough to compel him to play supporting roles alongside famous coworkers Barbra Streisand ( 1972’s” What’s Up, Doc” )? ), Paul Newman ( 1977’s” Slap Shot” ), Dustin Hoffman ( 1970’s” Little Big Man” and 1978’s” Straight Time” ), Steve Martin ( 1979’s” The Jerk” ), Harrison Ford ( 1982’s” Blade Runner” ) and Frances McDormand ( 1984’s” Blood Simple” ).
In the past several years, Walsh could be seen working with Cameron Diaz in 1997’s” My Best Friend’s Marriage” and most just with Daniel Craig in the 2019 hit” Weapons Out”. He was a credible cast member for some of Screens biggest visits over the years, being credited for looks on” The Righteous Gemstones”,” Sneaky Pete” and” The Mind of the Married Man”, as well as tourist functions on” Frasier”,” Home Improvement”,” The X- Files”,” NYPD Blue”,” Army Wives”,” Damages”,” McMillan &, Wife”,” The Twilight Zone”,” The Bob Newhart Show”,” The Rockford Files” and” The Waltons”.
” I do n’t want to play the same type of character 10 times”, Walsh told USA Today in 2015. In one movie, I want to become a garbage collection, and in the next, I want to become a government.
He mentioned going to Clarkson University in New York,” I got a degree in business administration and marketing.” That education taught me to live modestly when I’m working so that I can live on my savings when things are n’t going so well. Friends of actors have made ten times as much cash as I did, but they are now gone. I knew what to do with a buck.”
Walsh leaves behind niece Meagan Walsh, nephew Kevin Walsh ( Renee ) and grandnephews Emmet and Elliot.
