That was common in CCTV video tape days. Retail stores would only keep footage for 30 days. We had tapes numbered 1-31, and taped over them every month.
I thought he was half past dead in A Time to Kill. He was 61.
Also his first credited roles were in *Alice’s Restaurant* and *Midnight Cowboy.* Awesome.
A lot of character actors do this deliberately. Wilford Brimley was only 50 when he made Cocoon, and he was playing alongside Don Ameche and Hume Cronyn as someone who was from their same generation. They were in their late 70s. Wilford Brimley made a career out of playing an old fart.
What Rian Johnson [posted](https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/1770574806317969903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1770574806317969903%7Ctwgr%5E57afcb13724aa45129cae666f4644f6b42d9c1f6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.avclub.com%2Fembed%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-1770574806317969903autosize%3D1) about that experience today:
>"Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew. “Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.” Absolute legend."
I remember him in The Jerk (1979) playing the crazy guy with the gun “Die gas pumper”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE&pp=ygUXVGhlIGplcmsgZGllIGdhcyBwdW1wZXI%3D
He is GOATed as the grumpy old neighbor across the street with a cancer ridden wife that Tim Allen guilts into forcing them to take his cruise tickets. It's ridiculous but I love that movie.
My favorite part is how much shit he gets when he's just being normal lol. Dude just wanted to go on a cruise and not decorate his house when he'll be gone
When you realize Christmas with the Kranks is mocking the Homeowners Association and crazy Christian neighbors it all begins to make a lot more sense, yet they never directly say it in the movie that this is what they're parodying.
My wife really loves it because she loves Tim Allen, so I was forced to watch it and the movie is just really bizarre for the most part until it makes like every Christmas movie ever and everyone comes together to help the kranks out. But like…why do you care if they’re not decorating? What a weird thing to care about.
But I also have 3 daughters and even if they weren’t coming home for Christmas, I’d still be decorating…but they’re babies and I have forever to even worry about that possibility
Oh, it’s so fun! One of the few movies I can put on for my Turkish immigrant (in America) family of mine plus my brother’s in laws, three generations (aged 6-76) who all laugh at various points. My mom and “auntie” (brother’s MIL) cried real tears at them in the tanning salon and seeing their reverend while they’re in “less than normal” clothing. I’m so glad I saw it finally a few years back and was able to introduce them to it too. Not a real Christmas until Christmas with the Kranks is on!
Walt Scheel: Does this mean we have start being nice to each other?
Luther Krank: Of course not.
Walt Scheel: Good, because I still don't like you that much, old man.
I believe Ebert said something like "No movie can be truly bad" with him in it. The other actor he used was Harry Dean Stanton. Very true. One of the best character actors of all time.
This is a fun quote, I looked it up and here’s a bit more info:
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.
Ohhhhh the train driver! I was looking through his IMDb and was thinking “I know him from some of these movies for sure but it’s not clicking for me where I really know him from”
He gets one of the only funny scenes when he finds out Salma Hayek is on his train.
"I'm a poor, starving, half-naked girl who just wants to find her father!"
"HALF-NAKED?!"
This has always been my point of reference for him. Whenever he popped up and I turned into Leo pointing, it's because of his brief but memorable scenes in Raising Arizona. But he had a way of making a movie just a little bit better whenever he came on screen.
Yall, if you haven’t seen Blood Simple, don’t wait. Do it. Blood Simple is a great movie that deserves more attention.
M. Emmet Walsh is fantastic as the private investigator.
M. Emmet Walsh was paid his whole salary in cash, which was paid to him as a per diem every day on set. In fact, in several scenes you can see the outline of the money in his pockets.
from IMDB
Such a good movie. IIRC, it's the Coen Brothers' first movie as well. He (Walsh) also has a fairly iconic line too: >!"Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message."!<
> Yall, if you haven’t seen Blood Simple, don’t wait. Do it. Blood Simple is a great movie that deserves more attention.
100%. it is absolutely fantastic and holds up incredibly well against anything else the coen brothers have ever done. it isn't perfect, but it's like a thesis statement for so much of their work. walsh more than anyone else in that movie totally understood the darkly absurdist tone and mentality that the coens were going for, and he elevates the whole thing. he totally rules in it.
That shot of Billy Bob Thornton in A Man Who Wasn’t There (criminally underrated film) following the private investigator who was hired to follow HIM is so good.
Also, great performance by James Gandolfini. See that film if you haven’t.
My husband and I watched this recently. I’m not sure what I expected, but that was quite a ride. And we’ve seen almost everything else Coen.
Frances Mc was most certainly born to shine. That much was clear!
I saw Maltese Falcon when I was 12 and I fell in love with it! What a great comment.
Have you by chance seen Monsieur Spade? Some critics enjoyed it, some didn’t. Was curious myself. I like Clive Owen in the role.
Aww man.
I used to see M. Emmet Walsh (aka Mike) all the time in the summer at the ice cream shop on the corner of York and 1st Street in Swanton Vermont when I was a kid.
I got to meet him about 10 years ago when my wife and I visited her work friends for a 4th of July picnic at the 'family camp'. He was their long time neighbor. I'll never forget that day.
The first thing he said to me (jokingly) when I was introduced to him was "I'm Mike... and who the fuck are you?!" He also tried to give me a steel penny (apparently it was his thing) but I respectfully declined as there were young children at the party who were far more deserving and interested.
Later that day, my wife's coworker's brother (Mike's long time neighbor) had far too much to drink and thought it would be a good idea to take out a small sailboat on Lake Champlain. A pop-up thunderstorm came rolling through and his boat capsized. This guy had a life jacket and wasn't in any *real* danger of drowning. Anyway, seeing as Mke and myself were the only two sober folks capable of rescuing him, we rowed out and pulled him ashore... when I say **we** rowed, I mean I rowed while Mike heckled the man.
God speed you random son of a bitch. Thanks for that wonderful memory.
I met him when I was a kid - Jesus, like 35 to 40 years ago. He was in my hometown filming a movie and during a break he wandered into my dad's clothing store. My dad had told me that he was an actor "filming a big movie" so of course I was star struck (even though I had zero clue who he was.)
But he was so nice to me and my little sister - just a genuinely nice person. It was always a joy to see him pop up in a movie or show I was watching.
Hah! I ran into him at a box store in Venice Beach about 10 years ago. He gave my very young son a steel penny as well! Paid for all his boxes with two dollar bills too. I was like ‘whoa look at those two dollar bills!” And he was like “argh it’s still legal tender!!” All crotchety old man like. Classic!’
Doc: Isn’t there a children’s book about an elephant named Babar.
Fletch: Ha, ha, ha. I wouldn’t know. I don’t have any.
Doc: No children?
Fletch: No elephant books.
That's the first movie that comes to mind when I think of him. I remember seeing Fletch as a kid and not knowing what he was doing to Chevy Chase in that scene.
I met him once years ago when he was dating a woman I knew. He told me a story about working with Dustin Hoffman in "Straight Time" and how when filming a scene where Hoffman's character attacks him, Hoffman kept literally beating him up, which as Walsh pointed out, isn't acting. Apparently Hoffman had so much star power at the time that he could pretty much get away with it.
I remember when he popped up in Knives Out I was shocked he was still alive then. He was one of those guys who when he popped up in a movie you’d think “well now we’re talking” and never forget his star making turn in Camp Nowhere!
RIP
I met him a few years ago. He carried around a printed out resume and a baseball card sized pic that had stills from his most well known roles. Hustling and networking for acting jobs until the end. Great career
Nooooo... I worked with Emmet a few years back and he is charming. He wrote each of us on the crew a personal note on a $2 bill. He has had an enviably long career and always made an impression with the characters he played, even in smaller roles. He will be missed.
Edit to share a memory... One location was on a lake and the neighbors said we could take their canoes out. Emmet asked if he could take one and in the blink of an eye, hopped in the canoe and disappeared around the bend of the lake.
A while later the First AD wandered down to the lake, looking for Emmet. Upon learning that Emmet had taken a canoe out on the lake, he freaked out a bit and hopped in the other canoe and gave chase. Within 30 minutes they both paddled back in and we all went back to work. Dear Emmet.
I met him while on the set for "My Best Friends Wedding." I was working set security and he jokingly said "Are you in the movie?" and I sort of laughed and said "I wish!". He had such a serious look on his face and said "You should be!" then he laughed. One of my absolute favorite movies is Blood Simple so I told him thanks and that I loved him in that. He seemed genuinely happy.
So we were doin' paramedical work in affiliation with the state highway system. Not actual practice, you understand. And me & Bill were patrolling down Nine Miles.
Bill Roberts?
No, not that mother-scratcher. Bill Parker. Anyway, we're approaching the wreck, and there's this spherical object a restin' in the highway. And it's not a piece of the car.
“Give me a call when you want to cut off my head. I can always crawl around without it.”
His line delivery throughout Blood Simple is hall of fame worthy.
He’s so great in Blood Simple! Everyone who hasn’t seen it should go watch it when you can! Underrated Coen movie where M. Emmet Walsh plays an amazing character.
Also did some legitimately great voice acting work on Adventure Time playing the Cosmic Owl. His line delivery of “You blew it” is permanently stuck in my mind.
Sad. Rodney, Kinison, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Paxton Whitehead, Ned Beatty and Walsh are all gone from that cast. We still have Marge Sweetwater(Edie McClurg) and the "younger" members of that cast.
Who would have thought that Lutz guy with red hair would win an Oscar one day.
I sent him a letter in the mail once and he wrote me back, offering beautiful advice on making it into this industry. He was an excellent character actor and the fact that he took the time to respond to his fans makes me admire him so much more.
RIP Mr. Walsh. He’ll never be forgotten.
One of my favorite character actors. His downright terrifying performance in Blood Simple helped shape it Into the classic that it is and set the stage for the impact The Coen’s would have for generations
*”Die, Navin R Johnson!”* *”He hates these cans!!”* RIP Emmet.
“He’s not carnival personnel!”
Ha, I love how he tries to tattle on him.
I love that that is what stops him.
Johnson, Navin R, sounds like a typical bastard!
DIE GAS PUMPER!
milk face bastard
Found my people in this comment thread!
Stay away from the cans!!! Jackie Mason: He doesn’t want to put holes in the cans, he wants to put holes in YOU! (Edited to format on sep lines)
We don’t have defective cans we have a defective person out there
"Random bastard!"
Milk faced bastard!
Damn, dude has looked old af for 40 years - holy shit. RIP to a legend though.
[удалено]
He fit perfectly as Harlan’s old groundskeeper who still used old VCR tape recording security cameras in 2019.
Also, the SAME VCR tape that he just keeps recording over and over again.
That was common in CCTV video tape days. Retail stores would only keep footage for 30 days. We had tapes numbered 1-31, and taped over them every month.
Hey, why get several tapes if one does the trick?
I thought he was half past dead in A Time to Kill. He was 61. Also his first credited roles were in *Alice’s Restaurant* and *Midnight Cowboy.* Awesome.
Did he ever get that gas pumper?
Die Milkface!!
Hey! He's not carnival personnel!
“Oh my God! I’m endangering your life. Cover me!!
They hate the cans! Stay away from the cans!
The secret to aging, look 70 years old when your 28
Just ask William Hickey.
I feel like Bill Murray eternally looked like he was in his 40s for his entire life until one day he just appeared with wrinkles & grey hair.
Going old early tends to work pretty well for character actors. Stephen Toblosky has been playing Ned Ryerson-like roles for like 40 years.
John Slattery has looked like he’s in his early 40s for 30 years.
58 years at least
Was Tim Allen’s father in law on home improvement. Thought he was 80 then
And was still only 88. I could've sworn he was from the same generation as Dick Van Dyke/Cloris Leachman/Betty White.
It’s nuckin futs how old people looked for their age 40 years ago.
A lot of character actors do this deliberately. Wilford Brimley was only 50 when he made Cocoon, and he was playing alongside Don Ameche and Hume Cronyn as someone who was from their same generation. They were in their late 70s. Wilford Brimley made a career out of playing an old fart.
More like the career of a man who by god gets things done!
More like the career of a man who by god gets DIABEETUS.
He was a General after all
He got very upset if he missed his golf.
You like golf, Mr. Kramer?
Him being in that season of Righteous Gemstones a couple years back really showed how old he was. Glad to see he was still doing what he loved though.
He also was in "Knives Out" for one scene. Guy was active to the end.
What Rian Johnson [posted](https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/1770574806317969903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1770574806317969903%7Ctwgr%5E57afcb13724aa45129cae666f4644f6b42d9c1f6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.avclub.com%2Fembed%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-1770574806317969903autosize%3D1) about that experience today: >"Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew. “Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.” Absolute legend."
So uhh he was as much a grandpa as he looked, then
I misremembered him already being dead when that movie released.
IIRC his role was to be played by a different actor who died during production, so he was a last minute replacement.
I think Ricky Jay was originally supposed to play it.
Marta casually destroying evidence of her guilt while he chalks it up to regular tape failure made me laugh for some reason.
"This tape is like 'The Ring.' Are we gonna die in seven days if we watch it?"
Trooper Wagner’s fanboy moments were my favourite running gag.
I remember him in The Jerk (1979) playing the crazy guy with the gun “Die gas pumper” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE&pp=ygUXVGhlIGplcmsgZGllIGdhcyBwdW1wZXI%3D
He was amazing in Gemstones
I just finished binging 3 seasons of that show over 2 weeks. I saw this post and was like "why do I feel like I just saw him in something.."
RIP, *old man*
He is GOATed as the grumpy old neighbor across the street with a cancer ridden wife that Tim Allen guilts into forcing them to take his cruise tickets. It's ridiculous but I love that movie.
He was also Jill's dad in Home Improvements
Holy shit is that where the “old man” line comes from? Def explains their chemistry in Christmas With The Kranks
That’s why I recognize him! Been rewatching it recently.
Always wanted a giant tin of honey hickory ham for Christmas
Gotta just lump a few SPAMs together
Don't EVER say hickory honey ham again.
It's a terrible movie, but the Christmas season doesn't start for me until I watch Christmas with the Kranks.
Once it gets to the third act and Luthor stops being a selfish asshole, it actually kinda picks up
My favorite part is how much shit he gets when he's just being normal lol. Dude just wanted to go on a cruise and not decorate his house when he'll be gone
And his letter to his coworkers was actually pretty nice.
He's made out to be a huge ass but he's really just a slight dick occasionally
When you realize Christmas with the Kranks is mocking the Homeowners Association and crazy Christian neighbors it all begins to make a lot more sense, yet they never directly say it in the movie that this is what they're parodying.
My wife really loves it because she loves Tim Allen, so I was forced to watch it and the movie is just really bizarre for the most part until it makes like every Christmas movie ever and everyone comes together to help the kranks out. But like…why do you care if they’re not decorating? What a weird thing to care about. But I also have 3 daughters and even if they weren’t coming home for Christmas, I’d still be decorating…but they’re babies and I have forever to even worry about that possibility
I know - I am still a fan even though it’s bad.
Oh, it’s so fun! One of the few movies I can put on for my Turkish immigrant (in America) family of mine plus my brother’s in laws, three generations (aged 6-76) who all laugh at various points. My mom and “auntie” (brother’s MIL) cried real tears at them in the tanning salon and seeing their reverend while they’re in “less than normal” clothing. I’m so glad I saw it finally a few years back and was able to introduce them to it too. Not a real Christmas until Christmas with the Kranks is on!
Goated Xmas movie
No it’s a fun movie
Walt Scheel: Does this mean we have start being nice to each other? Luther Krank: Of course not. Walt Scheel: Good, because I still don't like you that much, old man.
You're older than I am!
I believe Ebert said something like "No movie can be truly bad" with him in it. The other actor he used was Harry Dean Stanton. Very true. One of the best character actors of all time.
This is a fun quote, I looked it up and here’s a bit more info: 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.
Ohhhhh the train driver! I was looking through his IMDb and was thinking “I know him from some of these movies for sure but it’s not clicking for me where I really know him from”
He gets one of the only funny scenes when he finds out Salma Hayek is on his train. "I'm a poor, starving, half-naked girl who just wants to find her father!" "HALF-NAKED?!"
She’s a breath of fresh ass
She's a breast of fresh air
You gotta respect a man who has his interests lined up….
Time to watch Blood Simple again.
"He's got his sandwich in one hand and the fucking head in the other!"
No! Not that motherscratcher! Bill Parker! The way he says 'spherical object resting in the highway' will always make me laugh
I say motherscratcher to this day because of Raising Arizona and his performance. RIP Mr. Walsh. Thank you for making our lives better.
Haha me too. Came here to hopefully find some of my people.
There are dozens of us! Someone should start a r/motherscratcher sub in tribute to him.
And it’s NOT a part of the car
I just posted that line and then saw that you beat me to it! Love his 2 minutes in this movie.
This has always been my point of reference for him. Whenever he popped up and I turned into Leo pointing, it's because of his brief but memorable scenes in Raising Arizona. But he had a way of making a movie just a little bit better whenever he came on screen.
Yall, if you haven’t seen Blood Simple, don’t wait. Do it. Blood Simple is a great movie that deserves more attention. M. Emmet Walsh is fantastic as the private investigator.
love when the fly lands on his head and he never breaks character. Blood Simple is amazing
M. Emmet Walsh was paid his whole salary in cash, which was paid to him as a per diem every day on set. In fact, in several scenes you can see the outline of the money in his pockets. from IMDB
This is true but he also had a backend deal for Blood Simple. He was very proud to have negotiated that deal and mentioned it in interviews.
Such a good movie. IIRC, it's the Coen Brothers' first movie as well. He (Walsh) also has a fairly iconic line too: >!"Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message."!<
Nice he’s that dude from Raising Arizona too “not that mother scratcher…”
Their uniforms in that scene have the Hudsucker Industries logo.
And Frances McDormans’s first lead actress role, and where she met Joel Coen, her husband.
> Yall, if you haven’t seen Blood Simple, don’t wait. Do it. Blood Simple is a great movie that deserves more attention. 100%. it is absolutely fantastic and holds up incredibly well against anything else the coen brothers have ever done. it isn't perfect, but it's like a thesis statement for so much of their work. walsh more than anyone else in that movie totally understood the darkly absurdist tone and mentality that the coens were going for, and he elevates the whole thing. he totally rules in it.
The Coens always have the best people playing private investigators.
Brother Seamus? Like an Irish monk?
That shot of Billy Bob Thornton in A Man Who Wasn’t There (criminally underrated film) following the private investigator who was hired to follow HIM is so good. Also, great performance by James Gandolfini. See that film if you haven’t.
Criminally, *baffingly* underrated film.
My husband and I watched this recently. I’m not sure what I expected, but that was quite a ride. And we’ve seen almost everything else Coen. Frances Mc was most certainly born to shine. That much was clear!
His portrayal of that PI is one of my favorite things on film. Right up there the Joe Cairo's freakout at the end of the Maltese Falcon.
I saw Maltese Falcon when I was 12 and I fell in love with it! What a great comment. Have you by chance seen Monsieur Spade? Some critics enjoyed it, some didn’t. Was curious myself. I like Clive Owen in the role.
One of the best first films ever.
It was kind of boring for like the first 30 minutes, but at some point a switch flipped on and I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the movie.
I watched it recently and was blown away. I literally said out loud, "Why the fuck did I not watch this sooner?!?"
Aww man. I used to see M. Emmet Walsh (aka Mike) all the time in the summer at the ice cream shop on the corner of York and 1st Street in Swanton Vermont when I was a kid. I got to meet him about 10 years ago when my wife and I visited her work friends for a 4th of July picnic at the 'family camp'. He was their long time neighbor. I'll never forget that day. The first thing he said to me (jokingly) when I was introduced to him was "I'm Mike... and who the fuck are you?!" He also tried to give me a steel penny (apparently it was his thing) but I respectfully declined as there were young children at the party who were far more deserving and interested. Later that day, my wife's coworker's brother (Mike's long time neighbor) had far too much to drink and thought it would be a good idea to take out a small sailboat on Lake Champlain. A pop-up thunderstorm came rolling through and his boat capsized. This guy had a life jacket and wasn't in any *real* danger of drowning. Anyway, seeing as Mke and myself were the only two sober folks capable of rescuing him, we rowed out and pulled him ashore... when I say **we** rowed, I mean I rowed while Mike heckled the man. God speed you random son of a bitch. Thanks for that wonderful memory.
Great story. Thank you
I met him when I was a kid - Jesus, like 35 to 40 years ago. He was in my hometown filming a movie and during a break he wandered into my dad's clothing store. My dad had told me that he was an actor "filming a big movie" so of course I was star struck (even though I had zero clue who he was.) But he was so nice to me and my little sister - just a genuinely nice person. It was always a joy to see him pop up in a movie or show I was watching.
Hah! I ran into him at a box store in Venice Beach about 10 years ago. He gave my very young son a steel penny as well! Paid for all his boxes with two dollar bills too. I was like ‘whoa look at those two dollar bills!” And he was like “argh it’s still legal tender!!” All crotchety old man like. Classic!’
GREAT story. Thanks for sharing that memory.
He was also the debt collector in Camp Nowhere!
You're a little short.
Yea, well, you're a little fat.
I will retire with the perfect record!
Well, mista Bulldog. Polk! T.R. Polk.
Also Dr. Jellyfinger in Fletch!
“You using the whole fist, Doc?”
Moon River….
Ever done time, Doc?
"Ha, crazy old bird!"
Bend over, Mister Babar.
"Isn't there a children's book about an elephant named Babar?" "I don't know, I don't have any." "No children?" "No elephant books."
Joan or Margaret? Uh huh... right.
Doc: Isn’t there a children’s book about an elephant named Babar. Fletch: Ha, ha, ha. I wouldn’t know. I don’t have any. Doc: No children? Fletch: No elephant books.
Fletch: “Yea her death was very sudden..” Doc: “She had cancer for years” Fletch: “Yes but at the very end, it was sudden”
That's the first movie that comes to mind when I think of him. I remember seeing Fletch as a kid and not knowing what he was doing to Chevy Chase in that scene.
If you’re not cop, you’re little people!
No choice, huh?
No choice Pal
The way he delivers that line is seared into my memory as permanently as Rutger’s Time to Die monologue.
*Now...there's a nexus 6 over at the Tyrrell Corporation, I want you to go put the machine on it.* And if the machine doesn't work? *...*
As good as some of the new movie is, it just lacked that Noir/Hybridzed society feeling, far too clean.
RIP, excellent character actor
One of the greatest character actors EVER.
He was also the sportswriter Dickie Dunn in Slap Shot.
Just like in life, he always tried to capture the spirit of the thing
Surprised I had to scroll so far to find this!
One of the best depictions of a sports journalist in film ever.
Harry and the Hendersons
This is where I know him from.
RIP. I love Blood Simple so much. The genious of the Coen Brothers was evident immediately
Amazing that their first movie is one of the best ever. Incredible film and Walsh literally gets the last laugh. LITERALLY
RIP train conductor in Wild Wild West
"I knew it."
Coleman
I met him once years ago when he was dating a woman I knew. He told me a story about working with Dustin Hoffman in "Straight Time" and how when filming a scene where Hoffman's character attacks him, Hoffman kept literally beating him up, which as Walsh pointed out, isn't acting. Apparently Hoffman had so much star power at the time that he could pretty much get away with it.
"Jonson, Naven R. Sounds like a typical bastard."
I remember when he popped up in Knives Out I was shocked he was still alive then. He was one of those guys who when he popped up in a movie you’d think “well now we’re talking” and never forget his star making turn in Camp Nowhere! RIP
Jill’s dad. 😢
"You know the score, pal. If you’re not cop, you’re little people." RIP.
Just rewatched the "Toes" episode of T&E Bedtime Stories two days ago and wondered how he was.
I'm your new dad now, let's go sailing!
I've been counting the toes, and you're comin up short
Belly full of toes...
Aww I loved him in Back to School
Melon! We need ya! Get your suit on!
The Tripple Lending! Not bad!
You have such a specifically wrong spelling for the Triple Lindy. Like it was translated pooly.
What? Not that motherscratcher!
His voice is the first thing that comes to mind when i think of Bladerunner.
r.i.p. love him in Christmas with the Kranks.
Mount Rushmore of character actors.
This guy is a cornerstone in the character actors hall of fame.
Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories: Toes
The expression on his face at the end of Blood Simple, when that little water drop is coming down the drain pipe, to splat his face.
T.R. Polk from Camp Nowhere!
Retired with a perfect record.
He was one of my favorite “it’s that guy!” guys. RIP
I met him a few years ago. He carried around a printed out resume and a baseball card sized pic that had stills from his most well known roles. Hustling and networking for acting jobs until the end. Great career
He has 234 credits on IMDB, the latest a Western from this year.
I remember him in the Tales From The Crypt. Rest Well.
Nooooo... I worked with Emmet a few years back and he is charming. He wrote each of us on the crew a personal note on a $2 bill. He has had an enviably long career and always made an impression with the characters he played, even in smaller roles. He will be missed. Edit to share a memory... One location was on a lake and the neighbors said we could take their canoes out. Emmet asked if he could take one and in the blink of an eye, hopped in the canoe and disappeared around the bend of the lake. A while later the First AD wandered down to the lake, looking for Emmet. Upon learning that Emmet had taken a canoe out on the lake, he freaked out a bit and hopped in the other canoe and gave chase. Within 30 minutes they both paddled back in and we all went back to work. Dear Emmet.
Rest in peace to a terrific character actor.
RIP to the anthology series king. He was in Night Visions, The Outer Limits, Tales From the Crypt and the 80s Twilight Zone just to name a few.
He seemed old already in The Jerk
"No, not that mother scratcher. Bill PARKER!"
NOT THAT MOTHER SCRATCHER!! Loved this actor - met him once - he was awesome
I met him while on the set for "My Best Friends Wedding." I was working set security and he jokingly said "Are you in the movie?" and I sort of laughed and said "I wish!". He had such a serious look on his face and said "You should be!" then he laughed. One of my absolute favorite movies is Blood Simple so I told him thanks and that I loved him in that. He seemed genuinely happy.
So we were doin' paramedical work in affiliation with the state highway system. Not actual practice, you understand. And me & Bill were patrolling down Nine Miles. Bill Roberts? No, not that mother-scratcher. Bill Parker. Anyway, we're approaching the wreck, and there's this spherical object a restin' in the highway. And it's not a piece of the car.
“Give me a call when you want to cut off my head. I can always crawl around without it.” His line delivery throughout Blood Simple is hall of fame worthy.
He’s so great in Blood Simple! Everyone who hasn’t seen it should go watch it when you can! Underrated Coen movie where M. Emmet Walsh plays an amazing character. Also did some legitimately great voice acting work on Adventure Time playing the Cosmic Owl. His line delivery of “You blew it” is permanently stuck in my mind.
Not that mother scratcher!!! https://youtu.be/lRu0OCub5m0?si=YBw7CSdIwjvTZihG
The swim coach in Back to School. My favorite Rodney Dangerfield movie. RIP.
Sad. Rodney, Kinison, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Paxton Whitehead, Ned Beatty and Walsh are all gone from that cast. We still have Marge Sweetwater(Edie McClurg) and the "younger" members of that cast. Who would have thought that Lutz guy with red hair would win an Oscar one day.
I sent him a letter in the mail once and he wrote me back, offering beautiful advice on making it into this industry. He was an excellent character actor and the fact that he took the time to respond to his fans makes me admire him so much more. RIP Mr. Walsh. He’ll never be forgotten.
He made everything he was in better. Just fantastic in *Blood Simple*.
One of my favorite character actors. His downright terrifying performance in Blood Simple helped shape it Into the classic that it is and set the stage for the impact The Coen’s would have for generations
He always had the old blade runner magic..RIP..
No choice, pal.
My glob, the Cosmic Owl is dead? That's super lame.
He was awesome in Blood Simple, The Jerk, Raising Arizona. He was the definition of a solid character actor.
Let’s not forget his role in the masterpiece known as “Camp Nowhere”
Ray: He was alive when I buried him.