M. Emmet Walsh

As of 2015, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Bound for Glory (1976), Ordinary People (1980) and Reds (1981). Of those, Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Ordinary People (1980) are winners in the category.

In Christmas With the Kranks (2004), he plays a neighbor of Tim Allen. He played Allen's father-in-law on Home Improvement (1991).

Critic Roger Ebert so admired him that he created the "Stanton-Walsh Rule," which states that "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." Ebert later admitted this rule was broken by Wild Wild West (1999), in which Walsh appeared.

Although he played Tim Thomerson's father in The Flash: Pilot (1990), he is only eleven years his senior in real life.

On-screen demand heated up for him in the early 1980s with attention-grabbing work in key hits, including Brubaker (1980), Reds (1981), and as Harrison Ford's police chief in the futuristic thriller Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (1982).

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), as the weird Dickie Dunn in Slap Shot (1977), and as a loony sniper hunting Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979).

Wonderfully talented, heavyset character actor (from New York, but regularly playing Southerners) M. Emmet Walsh 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.

Alumnus of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1961.