Michael Emmet Walsh

Michael Emmet Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, and raised on Lake Champlain in Vermont. He graduated with a business degree from Clarkson University before studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, making his Broadway debut opposite Al Pacino in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? in 1969.

Walsh became one of Hollywood's most recognizable and ubiquitous character actors, inspiring film critic Roger Ebert to formulate the "Stanton-Walsh Rule": "No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." Walsh delivered iconic turns as the deranged madman shooting at Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979), police chief Bryant pursuing replicants in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), and corrupt private investigator Loren Visser in the Coen brothers' debut Blood Simple (1984), for which he won the inaugural Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. His prolific career spanned six decades, concluding with Rian Johnson's murder-mystery Knives Out (2019).