E-Paper
Blood Simple and Blade Runner star M. Emmet Walsh, 88, dies of cardiac arrest in Vermont
M. Emmet Walsh died of cardiac arrest at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, Vermont
Blood Simple and Blade Runner star M. Emmet Walsh died on Tuesday, March 19, aged 88. Walsh’s manager told Fox News Digital that he died of cardiac arrest at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, Vermont. The character actor worked for six decades, on stage, film and television. Some of his most popular roles were in The Jerk, Critters, and My Best Friend's Wedding.
"Walsh’s tremendous body of work includes 119 feature films and more than 250 television productions," his manager shared in a statement. "Among his most recent credits are his scene-stealing performance as the elderly security guard in Rian Johnson’s murder-mystery comedy ‘Knives Out' and roles in ‘Brothers’ with Brendan Fraser for Legendary Films, the independent feature ‘God Loves the Green Bay Packers' and ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ for HBO."
Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, on March 22. He was raised in rural Swanton, Vermont, by his parents Agnes Katharine (Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh. While he was named Michael Emmet Walsh, he eventually came to be known as M. Emmet Walsh because a union stipulation prevented him from using his first name. He is survived by his niece Meagan Walsh, nephew Kevin Walsh (Renee), and grandnephews, Emmet and Elliot.
M. Emmet Walsh’s notable works
IMDb says, “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 to coin the "Stanton-Walsh Rule," which states that any film starring Walsh or Harry Dean Stanton has to have some merit.
The page names some of his popular roles in his “well remembered films,” including a courtroom police officer in What's Up, Doc? (1972), as the weird Dickie Dunn in Slap Shot (1977), and as a loony sniper hunting Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979).
