If you don’t instantly recognize the name M. Emmet Walsh, perhaps there’s one thing that should know about him: he hates these cans! Yes, among his nearly 200 roles in film and television, he was the mad gunman who tries to mow down Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) in The Jerk. In fact, movies and TV have been riddled with memorable appearances of Mr. Walsh since the early 1970’s.
All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show, Little House on the Prairie, The Rockford Files, Home Improvement, and Frasier are just a handful of TV series on which you might catch him making an appearance. Or perhaps you remember the co-worker of Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona who went on ad nauseum with idle chatter about a sandwich in one hand and a hat in the other. Or as ultra-bad guy Loren Visser in the Coen Brothers’ first film Blood Simple. But it was because he delivered a colonoscopy to Chevy Chase in Fletch that I had another extra photo on hand from the film’s presskit to send off to him and try to obtain an autograph.
I sent the photo out to him on October 10, 1997, and although it wasn’t returned to me until December 2 (and dated on the photo 11-26), it was well worth the wait. He not only signed my photo and two notecards, he sent along another portrait photo. Like Richard Libertini (whom I highlighted in the last posting), M. Emmet Walsh also happened to be in a photo in the Fletch presskit I owned and therefore I thought to add this unique and recognizable actor to my collection…and he has quite a unique signature as well.
Autographs of 1997 will continue…
My favorite role of his will probably always be that of “Bryant” in “Blade Runner.” His “Rockford Files” appearance is a close second.
Peter
October 5th, 2008