“Blade Runner” actor M. Emmet Walsh is dead after suffering a cardiac arrest this week. According to his manager, Sandy Joseph, the actor was getting medical help at a Vermont hospital when he passed on. He was 88 years old.
‘Blade Runner’ Star M. Emmet Walsh Dead At 88 https://t.co/5GwbG00PWv pic.twitter.com/gNxiuBMKNc
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) March 21, 2024
Walsh worked the industry for about 60 years, during which he performed on both large and small screens, as well as the theater.
Notable among his many film roles is the role of local sheriff in 1980s horror comedy “Critters” and of father to the groom in the late-90s Julia Roberts “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” He is also remembered for playing the strict LAPD boss Harrison Ford’s operative in 1982’s sci-fi “Blade Runner.”
As for television, Walsh played notable roles in several sitcoms and dramas, including “NYPD Blue,” “The X-Files,” “Frasier,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Damages.”
According to an obituary provided by Joseph, Walsh was born in March 1935 in Ogdensburg, New York. Raised in Vermont, he graduated from New York’s Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1961.
He was able to establish himself in Hollywood after moving to Los Angeles in 1970 and appearing in films like “Little Big Man,” “Airport 77” and “What’s Up Doc?”
With films like, “Blade Runner,” “Blood Simple,” “Reds,” “Ordinary People” and “The Jerk,” in which he acted opposite Steve Martin, he was able to gain even more prominence in Hollywood.
He won the first-ever Independent Spirit Award for best male lead for the Coen Brothers movie “Blood Simple” in 1985, going on to win other recognitions, including “American Gigolo” and “The Righteous Gemstones.”
In 2018, he was awarded the Carney Life Achievement Award at the annual Carney Awards.
