J. T. Walsh

J. T. Walsh
Born	James Thomas Patrick Walsh

James Thomas Patrick "J. T." 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.

Early life

Walsh was born in San Francisco, California. He had three siblings, Christopher, Patricia, and Mary. After 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.

Career

Walsh did not appear in feature films until 1983, when he had a minor role in Eddie 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 Master Sergeant Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam. Walsh had one of his best roles as Wayne in Red Rock West (1992).

On television, Walsh again portrayed a consummately evil character, prison Warden Brodeur on The X Files episode "The List" (1995). Brodeur beats a hand-cuffed inmate to death because the inmate informs Brodeur that he will be next on the list of people a former inmate has threatened to kill.

Walsh wanted to show his range as an actor and play good guy parts despite being typecast as a villain. Although he did get to play a few decent people such as the White House Chief of Staff in Outbreak and Chester Van Damme in Sniper, 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.

Death and legacy

The 1997 thriller Breakdown featured Walsh as the villainous truck driver, which raised his profile to movie audiences. It was his last starring film released during his lifetime.

In his last year, he starred in Hidden Agenda, Pleasantville, and The Negotiator. All three movies were dedicated to his memory, after he died from a heart attack on February 27, 1998. He died while a guest of the Optimum Health Institute in Lemon Grove, California.

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.

In his later years, Walsh was befriended by actor Scott Marlowe. He was the father of actor John West and was the inspiration for Fametracker's The J.T. Walsh Memorial "Hey! It's That Guy!" feature on character actors.

Selected Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Right to Kill?	Maj. Eckworth
1986	Hannah and Her Sisters	Ed Smythe
1987	Good Morning, Vietnam	Sgt. Major Dickerson
1988	Tequila Sunrise	DEA Agent Hal Maguire
1990	Misery	State Trooper Sherman Douglas	Uncredited
	The Grifters	Cole
1991	Backdraft	Alderman Marty Swayzak
1992	A Few Good Men	Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson
	Red Rock West	Wayne
	Hoffa	Frank Fitzsimmons
1993	Needful Things	Danforth 'Buster' Keeton III
	Sniper	Chester Van Damme
1994	The Last Seduction	Frank Griffith
	Blue Chips	Happy
	The Client	Jason McThune
	Silent Fall	Sheriff Mitch Rivers
1995	Nixon	John Ehrlichman
	Black Day Blue Night	Lt. John Quinn
1996	Executive Decision	Senator Mavros
	Sling Blade	Charles Bushman
1997	Breakdown	Warren 'Red' Barr
1998	The Negotiator	Inspector Terence Niebaum	This film is dedicated to Walsh, who died before the movie's release.
	Pleasantville	Big Bob	This film is dedicated to Walsh, who died before the movie's release.
	Hidden Agenda	Jonathan Zanuck	This film is dedicated to Walsh, who died before the movie's release.

External links

• Reflection on J. T. Walsh (PDF)
• "Oh, that guy" Salon.com profile of Walsh
• Bubblegun interview
• J. T. Walsh at Find a Grave
• The J.T. Walsh Supersite