M. Emmet Walsh

Wonderfully talented, heavyset character actor (from New York, but regularly playing Southerners) 'M. Emmet Walsh' (qv) has made a solid career of playing corrupt cops, deadly crooks, and zany comedic roles since the early 1970s.Michael Emmet Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, to Agnes Katharine (Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh, a customs agent. He is of Irish descent. Walsh first appeared in a few fairly forgettable roles both on TV and onscreen before cropping up in several well remembered films, including a courtroom police officer in _What's Up, Doc? (1972)_ (qv), as the weird Dickie Dunn in _Slap Shot (1977)_ (qv), and as a loony sniper hunting 'Steve Martin' (qv) in _The Jerk (1979)_ (qv). On-screen demand heated up for him in the early 1980s with attention-grabbing work in key hits, including _Brubaker (1980)_ (qv), _Reds (1981)_ (qv), and as 'Harrison Ford' (qv)'s police chief in the futuristic thriller _Blade Runner (1982)_ (qv). Walsh then turned in a stellar performance as the sleazy, double-crossing private detective in the 'Joel Cohen' (qv) and 'Ethan Coen' (qv) film noir _Blood Simple (1984)_ (qv), and showed up again for the Coens as a loud-mouthed sheet-metal worker bugging 'Nicolas Cage' (qv) in the hilarious _Raising Arizona (1987)_ (qv). As Walsh moved into his fifties and beyond, Hollywood continued to offer him plenty of work, and he has appeared in over 50 movies since passing the half-century mark. His consistent ability to turn out highly entertaining portrayals led film critic 'Roger Ebert' (qv) to coin the "Stanton-Walsh Rule," which states that any film starring Walsh or 'Harry Dean Stanton' (qv) has to have some merit. And the "M" stands for Michael!::firehouse44