American actor (1943?1998)
J.T. Walsh
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Born
| James Thomas Patrick Walsh
(
1943-09-28
)
September 28, 1943
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Died
| February 27, 1998
(1998-02-27)
(aged 54)
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Alma mater
| University of Tubingen
University of Rhode Island
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Occupation
| Actor
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Years active
| 1975?1998
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Spouse
|
Susan West
(
m.
1972;
div.
1982)
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Children
| 1
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James Thomas Patrick Walsh
(September 28, 1943 ? February 27, 1998) was an American
character actor
. His many films include
Tin Men
(1987),
Good Morning, Vietnam
(1987),
A Few Good Men
(1992),
Hoffa
(1992),
Nixon
(1995),
Sling Blade
(1996),
Breakdown
(1997), and
Pleasantville
(1998).
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Walsh was born in
San Francisco
,
California
. He had three siblings: Christopher, Patricia, and Mary.
[2]
From 1948 until 1962, the family lived in West Germany, where Walsh's father was stationed; they lived in
Munich
for seven years before moving to
Stuttgart
.
[
citation needed
]
Walsh and his brother studied at
Clongowes Wood College
(a
Jesuit
school in Ireland) from 1955 until 1961. He then attended the
University of Tubingen
(Walsh spoke fluent German) for a year before his father died of a
brain tumour
, after which he and his family moved back to the United States, settling in his mother's native
Rhode Island
. He completed his studies at the
University of Rhode Island
, where he majored in sociology and starred in many college theater productions. During this time, he was also active in
SDS
demonstrations against the
Vietnam War
.
[
citation needed
]
After graduating from college in 1967, Walsh worked briefly as a
VISTA
volunteer in
Newport, Rhode Island
organizing tenants for the United Tenant Organizations of Rhode Island (UTO) before resigning to pursue his acting career. Prior to becoming an actor, he also worked as a barman, an encyclopedia salesman, a junior high school teacher, a gymnasium equipment salesman, and a reporter. In 1974, he was discovered by a theater director and began working in
off-Broadway
shows, where he began using the initials "J. T." to avoid confusion with another stage actor named James Walsh.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
On stage, Walsh received critical acclaim for his performance as John Williamson in the 1984 U.S. premiere of
David Mamet
's
Glengarry Glen Ross
in
Chicago
and subsequently on
Broadway
. He did not appear in films until 1983, when he had a minor role in
Eddie Macon's Run
. Over the next 15 years, he appeared in over 50 feature films, increasingly taking the villain role for which he is well known, such as Sergeant Major Dickerson in
Good Morning, Vietnam
. On television, he again portrayed an evil character, prison warden Brodeur on the 1995
X-Files
episode "
The List
".
Wishing to show his range as an actor and play good guys, despite being typecast as a villain, he played relatively decent characters
[
citation needed
]
in
Outbreak
and
Sniper
, and also played the rather sympathetic
Marine
Lieutenant Colonel
Matthew Markinson in
A Few Good Men
. He played a member of
Majestic 12
in the 1996 sci-fi drama series
Dark Skies
. Walsh notably played real people in three films: journalist
Bob Woodward
in
Wired
,
Teamsters
president
Frank Fitzsimmons
in
Hoffa
, and
Richard Nixon
's domestic advisor
John Ehrlichman
in
Nixon
. He was fired from
Loose Cannons
after completing two days of filming because his co-star
Dan Aykroyd
had learned of Walsh's involvement in
Wired
, a biopic of Aykroyd's friend
John Belushi
, to which Aykroyd was hostile.
[
citation needed
]
The 1997 thriller
Breakdown
, which featured Walsh as villainous truck driver Warren "Red" Barr, was his last starring film released during his lifetime. In his final year of life, Walsh starred in
Hidden Agenda
,
Pleasantville
, and
The Negotiator
, all of which were dedicated to his memory.
[4]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
He married Susan West in 1972 and they had a son, John Alan West, who works in film production under the name John West. They divorced in 1982. Walsh lived in
Encino, Los Angeles
. He was a lifelong
Democrat
, and an avid reader with a strong interest in
metaphysics
.
[
citation needed
]
A heavy smoker, Walsh died of a
heart attack
in the hospital in
La Mesa, California
, on February 27, 1998, at the age of 54, after feeling ill and collapsing at the Optimum Health Institute in
Lemon Grove
. According to author
Marc Seifer
, for whom Walsh had narrated a documentary, just a few weeks earlier, Walsh had experienced chest pains and had an
EKG
test done that resulted in a misdiagnosis.
[5]
Jack Nicholson
, who acted with Walsh in
A Few Good Men
and
Hoffa
, dedicated his Best Actor Oscar for
As Good as It Gets
to him.
[6]
In his tribute to Walsh in
Time Out New York
,
Andrew Johnston
wrote:
Walsh is invariably referred to as a character actor who specialized in villains, but that description doesn't quite do justice to what he did. The typical Walsh character was a plot device, really, serving either as a moral counterpoint to the star of the show or as an
Iagolike
figure egging on the hero in a way likely to lead to the protagonists's downfall. These characters were often self-important authority figures 'defending' the American establishment from the individualism represented by the movies' heroes ... or crooks who thrived by exploiting the hypocrisy of the system. Walsh didn't just make a career of playing bad guys ? his performances offered a sort of running commentary on the power structure of American society.
[7]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Other
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