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J. T. Walsh

 
Actor: J.T. Walsh
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Sep 28, 1943 in San Francisco, California
  • Died: Feb 27, 1998 in San Diego, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '90s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Thriller
  • Career Highlights: The Grifters, House of Games, Sling Blade
  • First Major Screen Credit: House of Games (1987)

Biography

Considered the very embodiment of a character actor, and one of the best of his kind, J.T. Walsh filled a need for hospital corner-executive types and glowering villains throughout a busy 15-year career. His penetrating, unblinking eyes brought a deadly seriousness to a spectrum of supporting characters, both white and blue collar. James Patrick Walsh -- who decided to adopt the initials J.T. after his name was misprinted -- was born on September 28, 1943 in San Francisco, then raised in Rhode Island and Europe. He worked in a variety of career fields, from social worker to salesman, during his young adulthood. It wasn't until age 30 that he focused on stage acting, and ten more years that he began popping up regularly on the big screen. His rave reviews for a 1984 stage production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross finally translated into the beginning of a film career. It took Walsh little time to become a character-actor mainstay. Woody Allen cast him in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and a year later he gained notice as the sergeant who puts the clamps on Robin Williams' fast-talking DJ in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). He hooked up with Mamet again on House of Games that same year. The first of several collaborations with friend Kurt Russell came with Tequila Sunrise in 1988. Walsh earned kudos as the prototypical shady studio exec in Christopher Guest's The Big Picture (1989). By this point he had begun appearing in an average of four or five films per year. His portrayals in the early '90s included Annette Bening's sleazy mentor in The Grifters (1990) and another villainous military officer in A Few Good Men (1992). The mid-'90s brought such films as Red Rock West (1993), The Client (1994), The Last Seduction (1994), and Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), the last of which cast him as Watergate figure John Ehrlichman. In the final few years of his life, Walsh etched some of his most haunting portrayals, including the predatory sex offender who bends the ear of Karl Childers in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade (1996), reprising his role from the little-seen short Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993), also written by Thornton. Walsh burned with a menacing intensity as a malicious trucker in the Duel-inspired thriller Breakdown (1997), also starring Russell. Walsh already had Pleasantville and The Negotiator (both 1998) in the can when he suffered a fatal heart attack on February 27, 1998, in San Diego. Both films were dedicated to him, as was Jack Nicholson's Oscar for As Good As It Gets (1997). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
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Filmography: J.T. Walsh
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Pleasantville

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The Negotiator

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Hidden Agenda

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Breakdown

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Hope

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Executive Decision

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Sling Blade

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Gang in Blue

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Wikipedia: J. T. Walsh
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J. T. Walsh
Born James Thomas Patrick Walsh
September 28, 1943(1943-09-28)
San Francisco, California
Died February 27, 1998 (aged 54)
San Diego, California

James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998), more commonly known as "J.T.," 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.

Contents

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 Sgt. Maj. Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam. Walsh had one of his best[citation needed] 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

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. 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.

He died while a guest of the Optimum Health Institute in Lemon Grove, California.

Personal life

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.

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
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


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