A truly prodigious actor (over 200 credits on IMDB) with memorable roles in Blade Runner, Back to School, Blood Simple, Fletch and too many more to mention. RIP.
He’s not one of those actors I would have thought was already dead. In fact, I would have thought he was older than 88 and still kickin’.
A great Abe Vigoda type candidate. The man looked ancient since he was in his 40’s.
That mother-scratcher?
Oh, that’s a good memory, right there. Another from Raising Arizona:
“…a spherical object, resting on the highway. And it’s not a part of the car!”
Not too many actors get a rule named after them!
Wait, he was still alive? (I mean, until now) I could’ve swore he died in like the mid/late 80s! Next you’re gonna tell me harry dean Stanton is still alive…
I was just thinking about him for some reason, wondering if he was still alive but was too lazy or preoccupied to go check. I’m surprised he was 88. He always looked old, even 50 years ago.
He appeared with Tim Allen on both Home Improvement and Christmas With the Kranks almost a decade apart.
He was also in the forgotten/underrated movie No Other Love with Julie Kavner. Actually, that’s why he came to mind – I was thinking about movies that featured main characters who had special needs, and that one popped into mind.
I do that too sometimes: think about an actor out of the blue, and then within days their obituary appears. And yes, I was thinking about M Emmet Walsh yesterday.
I feel somehow complicit, and I’m consumed with guilt.
So many memorable roles. I think the first thing I remember him in was “The Jerk” where he’s a crazed sniper who picks Steve Martin’s name out of a phone book. “Die you random son of a bitch victim bastard!”
I was just going to say…
“He hates these cans!”
And guess who just showed up in a film I’m watching on TCM?
I thought he was dead because I was thinking of J. T. Walsh.
You using the whole fist there, doc?
When I heard the name, I mixed him up with Wilford Brimley.