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M. Emmet Walsh, Character Actor Immortalized in ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Blood Simple,’ Dead at 88

M. Emmet Walsh, who excelled when playing characters that brought a menacing presence to films such as Blade Runner and Blood Simple, died at 88.

The Coen brothers said that they wrote the role for Walsh in their directing debut — the actor would go on to win the first Film Independent Spirit Award for best male lead for the part. Walsh garnered over 230 acting credits on his IMDb, and would shine in roles that exposed the grittier side of humanity, featuring opposite Harrison Ford as vicious LAPD boss in Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner, a shady lumber merchant in Brubaker(1980), and an amoral police chief in 1986 horror film Critters. When remembering the actor, Knives Out director Rian Johnson shared a touching memory: “Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew.” He said that Walsh would quip, “Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke,” adding that he was an, “Absolute legend.”

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