M. Emmet Walsh

Yet another familiar face and voice, but a name not well known, even by his own admission.  M. Emmet Walsh (b. 1935) has been acting on TV and in movies since 1969 and has 199 roles on IMDb.

His early films include small parts in Midnight Cowboy and Alice's Restaurant in 1969, and Little Big Man in 1970.  He had a bigger part in What's Up Doc in 1972 as the arresting officer in the hilarious courtroom scene, and appears in Serpico in 1973.

Almost every year he had a part in some good movie.  Slap Shot (1977), The Jerk (1979), Brubaker (1980), Reds (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Silkwood (1983), and so on.

He has a good role in Raising Arizona (1987) as the machine shop worker, and I just saw him in A Time to Kill (1996) as a disgraced psychologist for the defense.  But wait, there's more!

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Wild Wild West (1999), Christmas with the Kranks (2004).  Plus, he is popular on TV in quite a few series' including "Home Improvement."  He had a recurring role on "The Sandy Duncan Show" in 1972 which only lasted one season, and again in 1989 in "Unsub" which only lasted eight episodes.  The rest of his television experience is one and two episode stints.

Walsh is quoted on IMDb as saying, "I don't have an ego when I get the work. If I'm playing a doctor I want you to see a doctor. I don't want you to see an Emmet Walsh doctor and that's I think been the confusion with my career. People know my work, but they don't know who I am. I've always had fun hiding in the character."  And that pretty much sums up what I have been saying about Bit Actors.

The films I listed for M. Emmet Walsh are movies that can be watched more than once.  Watch for him!