The American actor M. Emmet Walsh, who starred in films such as “Blade Runner”, “Blood Simple” and “Knives Out – Murder is a Family Matter”, is dead. He died on Tuesday in a hospital in the US state of Vermont suffered cardiac arrest, his management announced on Wednesday. Walsh was 88 years old.
Over six decades, Walsh appeared in 119 feature films and more than 250 television productions, said manager Sandy Joseph. In 1982, director Ridley Scott brought him in front of the camera alongside Harrison Ford in the role of a hardened police officer for the sci-fi thriller “Blade Runner”.
In “Blood Simple” (1984), the Coen brothers’ directorial debut, he shone as an unscrupulous private detective. The role earned him a Spirit Award trophy for Best Actor. Walsh made his feature film debut in 1969 in the musical film “Alice’s Restaurant”.
He made the western “Little Big Man” (1970) with Dustin Hoffman and the comedy “Isn’t What, Doc?” with Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand. (1972), with Steve Martin “Wealth Is No Shame” (1979) and with Robert Redford the prison drama “Brubaker” (1980). He played the groom’s father in the romance “My Best Friend’s Wedding” with Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulrooney and most recently a guard in the crime film “Knives Out” (2019).