M. Emmet Walsh

Arguably one of the best character actors of the 20th century, M. Emmet Walsh delivered consistently nuanced and believable turns in a wide and storied body of work on film, ranging from "Straight Time" (1978) and "The Jerk" (1979) to "Ordinary People" (1980), "Blood Simple" (1985), "Clean and Sober" (1988) and "A Time to Kill" (1996). Effortlessly versatile in all manner of roles, Walsh could be convincingly funny in broad comic turns, as well as chilling in cold-blooded roles like his star-making turn as a vicious private eye in "Blood Simple." Over the course of four decades in the business, Walsh escalated from familiar face to scene-stealer and, on more than one occasion, a film's saving grace. Audiences simply accepted that Walsh was telling the truth whenever he appeared on screen, which elevated him to the pantheon of much-loved character performer, a status that he proved over and over in over 150 films.