J. T. Walsh

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J. T. Walsh
Born September 28, 1943
San Francisco, California
Died February 27, 1998 (aged 54)
San Diego, California

James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs" (quote from Leonard Maltin) in numerous feature films and "everybody's favorite scumbag" from Playboy Magazine.

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[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Walsh was born in San Francisco, California. He had three siblings, Christopher, Patricia, and Mary. After returning from studying at Clongowes Wood College in Ireland, Walsh attended the University of Rhode Island, where he starred in many college theater productions. In 1974, he was discovered by a director and began working in off-Broadway shows.

[edit] Career

Walsh did not start appearing in feature films until 1983, when he had a minor role in Eddy Macon's Run. Over the next 15 years, he played in over 50 feature films, increasingly taking the bad guy role for which he is so well known, e.g. the loudly irascible Sgt. Maj. Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam. Walsh had one of his best[citation needed] roles as Wayne in Red Rock West (1992). In his last year, he starred in Hidden Agenda, Pleasantville, and The Negotiator. All three of those movies were dedicated to his memory, after he died from a heart attack on February 27, 1998. In addition, Jack Nicholson dedicated his Academy Award for As Good as It Gets to the memory of Walsh, with whom he had starred in A Few Good Men and Hoffa in 1992. The 1997 thriller Breakdown featured Walsh as the villainous truck driver, which raised his profile to movie audiences. Sadly, it was said that Walsh wanted to show his range as an actor and play good guy parts despite being typecast as a baddie, although the actor did get to play a few decent people such as the White House Chief of Staff in Outbreak and Chester Van Damme in Sniper but even those roles had Walsh putting an amoral streak within his characters. Walsh played a member of Majestic-12 in the 1996-1997 sci-fi/drama television series Dark Skies.

[edit] Personal life

Walsh was 54 when he died from a heart attack in La Mesa, California on February 27, 1998. Walsh, father of actor John West, was the inspiration for Fametracker's The J.T. Walsh Memorial "Hey! It's That Guy!" feature on character actors.

[edit] External links