M. Emmet Walsh, Prolific Character Actor, Dies at 88

M. Emmet Walsh, an iconic character actor with well over 200 credits from 1969 through this year, died Tuesday, three days shy of his birthday. He was 88.

Walsh’s manager Sandy Joseph confirmed his death to TMZ, revealing that Walsh had died at a hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

It was unclear why he was in a hospital at the time of his heart attack.

Walsh made his first, uncredited, appearances in 1969, in the classics "Alice's Restaurant" and "Midnight Cowboy."

He went on to appear in a dizzying list of famous films, including "Little Big Man" (1970), "What's Up, Doc?" (1972), "Serpico" (1973), "Airport '77" (1977), "Slap Shot" (1977), "Straight Time" (1978), "The Jerk" (1979), "Ordinary People" (1980), "Reds" (1981), "Blade Runner" (1982), "Silkwood" (1983), "Fletch" (1985), "Critters" (1986), "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Romeo + Juliet" (1996), "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997), "Christmas with the Kranks" (2004), and "Knives Out" (2019).

His most acclaimed performance was his work in "Blood Simple," the 1984 neo-noir classic that was written, edited, produced, and directed by the Coen Brothers, in their debut as filmmakers. Walsh played sleazy P.I. Loren Visser in the pitch-black comedy about a series of murderous misunderstandings.

Evil incarnate, Visser informed a potential client, "Well, if the pay's right and it's legal, I'll do it." Informed the job in question wasn't "exactly legal," Visser doesn't miss a beat: "Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it."

Walsh won the first Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for the film, beating out Rubén Blades ("Crossover Dreams"), Tom Bower ("Wildrose"), and Treat Williams ("Smooth Talk").

He also made countless TV appearances, popping up on everything from "All in the Family" (1971) to "Empire" (2015).

Walsh’s final acting credit is for “Green & Gold,” which is in post-production.

Walsh, who had no wife or kids, is survived by his nieces and nephews.

In 2015, the actor explained why he never married, telling The Spectrum, “If you marry another actor, there’s always competition. And if you marry a ‘civilian,’ they don’t understand what you’re doing and why you have to travel to, say, Nova Scotia, for several months. Besides, I never met a woman who was stupid enough to think I was a great catch!”