M. Emmet Walsh
Department: Acting
Biography
Michael Emmet Walsh (March 22, 1935 – March 19, 2024) was an American character actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including supporting roles in dozens of major studio features of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in Blood Simple (1984), the Coen Brothers' first film for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He also appeared in The Jerk (1979), Ordinary People (1980), Blade Runner (1982), Wild Wild West (1999), and The Iron Giant (1999). His final films included Knives Out (2019) and Brothers (2024).
Known For
South of Bix
2019
Brubaker
1980
The Iron Giant
1999
Critters
1986
Alice's Restaurant
1969
The Best of Times
1986
The Mighty Quinn
1989
The Jerk
1979
Blood Simple
1985
Slap Shot
1977
Chairman of the Board
1998
Straight Time
1978
Narrow Margin
1990
Wild Wild West
1999
Cold Turkey
1971
Raise the Titanic
1980
The Pope of Greenwich Village
1984
Cannery Row
1982
My Best Friend's Wedding
1997
Harry and the Hendersons
1987
Twilight
1998
Fletch
1985
Red Scorpion
1988
Silkwood
1983
Retroactive
1997
Christmas in the Clouds
2001
No Man's Land
1987
Big Stan
2007
Catch Me... If You Can
1989
Christmas with the Kranks
2004
Don McKay
2009
The Outlaws
1984
Cops & Robbersons
1994
Man in the Chair
2007
Missing in Action
1984
Back to School
1986
Back Roads
1981
The Gambler
1974
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat
1991
Poor White Trash
2000
Me and Will
1999
Fast-Walking
1982
Ordinary People
1980
The Music of Chance
1993
Camp Nowhere
1994
Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
2007
Reds
1981
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
1979
White Sands
1992
Killer Image
1992
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
1975
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
2012
War Party
1988
The Traveling Executioner
1970
The Deliberate Stranger
1986
Grandview, U.S.A.
1984
City in Fear
1980
Thunderground
1989
Random Hearts
1999
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
1995
Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency
2011
High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane
1980
Red Alert
1977
A Question of Guilt
1978
Your Name Here
2008
Scandalous
1984
Broken Vows
1987
At Long Last Love
1975
Nickelodeon
1976
Love Sick Love
2012
Monster!
1999
Skag
1980
The Naked Truth
1992
Bitter Harvest
1993
The Flash
1990
The Abduction of Kari Swenson
1987
Baggage
2003
Haunted Echoes
2008
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
1995
Calvary
2014
Probable Cause
1994
Racing Stripes
2005
Four Eyes and Six-Guns
1992
They Might Be Giants
1971
Youth in Revolt
2009
Mikey and Nicky
1976
Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic
1975
Little Big Man
1970
Superdome
1978
A Time to Kill
1996
Airport '77
1977
On the Edge of 'Blade Runner'
2000
Snow Dogs
2002
Blade Runner
1982
Relative Fear
1994
Criminal Hearts
1996
Nightmare in Big Sky Country
1998
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
1971
The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power
2015
Albino Alligator
1997
Resting Place
1986
Greener Mountains
2005
Courage
1984
Serpico
1973
Madness of Method
1994
Outlaw Posse
2024
Fourth Story
1991
The Assignment
2010
Murder Ordained
1987
Boiling Pot
2015
Chattahoochee
1990
Wildcats
1986
Brothers
2024
Panther
1995
Sunset
1988
Erasable You
1998
The Glass Shield
1994
What's Up, Doc?
1972
Portraits of a Killer
1996
Wilder Napalm
1993
Men in White
1998
Silverfox
1991
Raising Arizona
1987
The Escape Artist
1982
Get to Know Your Rabbit
1972
End of the Road
1970
Chasing 3000
2010
The Gift
1979
Midnight Cowboy
1969
Hellinger's Law
1981
Wild Card
1992
Dear Detective
1979
Change in the Air
2018
The Right of the People
1986
Clean and Sober
1988
Shifting Gears
2018
The Invasion of Johnson County
1976
The Lottery
1996
Toto
2018
The Killing Jar
1997
Faith, Hope & Love
2019
Bound for Glory
1976
Eyeball Eddie
2001
Knives Out
2019
Raising Buchanan
2019
Dead Badge
1995
The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
1983
Night Partners
1983
Love and Lies
1990
Romeo + Juliet
1996
Equinox
1992
Jack of Hearts
2000
No Other Love
1979
Arthur Newman
2012
Crime Club
1975
Sorry, Not Sorry
2019
The Mimic
2021
Stiletto
1969
The Immaculate Room
2022
Kid Blue
1973
A Little White Lie
2023
The Milagro Beanfield War
1988
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales
2003
Dotty and Soul
2023
Green and Gold
2025
A True Character
2008
Hero in the Family
1986
The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn
1985
The Flash
1990
Arnie
1970
Starsky & Hutch
1975
Home Improvement
1991
Little House on the Prairie
1974
Early Edition
1996
The Twilight Zone
1985
All in the Family
1971
Ed
2000
Tales from the Crypt
1989
The Bob Newhart Show
1972
Tracey Takes On...
1996
Baretta
1975
The Civil War
1990
Frasier
1993
The X-Files
1993
Night Visions
2001
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
The Sandy Duncan Show
1972
The Hitchhiker
1983
Unsub
1989
The Outer Limits
1995
The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot
1999
The Wild Thornberrys
1998
Empire
2015
Amazing Stories
1985
The Righteous Gemstones
2019
McMillan & Wife
1971
Nichols
1971
Pound Puppies
2010
The French Atlantic Affair
1979
Charlie Lawrence
2003
Brotherhood of the Rose
1989
Bonanza
1959
The Rockford Files
1974
East of Eden
1981
Murder Ordained
1987
What's New, Scooby-Doo?
2002
American Gigolo
2022
Damages
2007
The West
1996
NYPD Blue
1993
Starsky & Hutch
1975
The Waltons
1972
Ironside
1967
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories
2014
AfterMASH
1983
Adventure Time
2010
Sneaky Pete
2015
Gibbsville
1976
The Guardian
2001
Baseball
1994
The Deliberate Stranger
1986
'Til Death
2006
Army Wives
2007