Profile of J.T. Walsh on Famous Like Me

James Patrick Walsh (born September 28, 1943 in San Francisco, California; died February 27, 1998 in La Mesa, California) was an American actor best known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs" (quote from Leonard Maltin) in numerous feature films.

After returning from 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. He had intended to go by his real initials, but at a casting call, his name was misread as JT Walsh, and he realized he liked JT better than JP.

Walsh did not start doing feature films until 1983, where he had a minor role in Eddy 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. In his last year, he starred in Hidden Agenda, Pleasantville, and The Negotiator. All three of those 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. The 1997 thriller Breakdown featured Walsh as the villainous truck driver, which raised his profile to movie audiences. Sadly, it was said that Walsh wanted to show his range as an actor and play good guy parts, which proved slim, although the actor did get to play but a few decent people like the U.S. President in Outbreak in an inspired cameo, and Sniper but even those roles had Walsh putting an amoral streak within his characters.

J.T. Walsh, father of actor John West, was the inspiration for Fametracker's The J.T. Walsh Memorial "Hey! It's That Guy!" feature on character actors.

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