James Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American actor. He appeared in many well known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Outbreak, Breakdown, Pleasantville, The Negotiator, and Good Morning, Vietnam. He was known for portraying "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs" (as stated by Leonard Maltin) in numerous films, and was described as "everybody's favorite scumbag" by Playboy magazine.
He played Thomas Beckett's Commanding Officer in Sniper.
Life and Career[]
Walsh was born in San Francisco, California. He had three siblings: Christopher, Patricia, and Mary. From 1948 to 1962, the family lived in West Germany, before moving back to the United States. After studying at Clongowes Wood College in Ireland from 1955 to 1961, Walsh attended the University of Tübingen in Tübingen, and then the University of Rhode Island, where he starred in many college theater productions. In 1974, he was discovered by a theatre director and began working in off-Broadway shows.
Walsh 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 bad guy 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". Brodeur beats a handcuffed inmate to death because the inmate informs him that he will be next on the list of people a former inmate has threatened to kill. That episode featured Sniper 2 co-star Bokeem Woodbine who portrayed Jack Cole.
Walsh wanted to show his range as an actor and play good guys, despite being typecast as a villain. Although he did get to play a few decent people, such as the White House Chief of Staff in Outbreak and Chester Van Damme in Sniper, even those films had him portray a character with an amoral streak. He played a member of Majestic 12 in the 1996 sci-fi drama series "Dark Skies". The 1997 thriller Breakdown featured Walsh as the villainous truck driver, which raised his profile to movie audiences. It was his last starring film released during his lifetime. In his final year of life, Walsh starred in the films Hidden Agenda, Pleasantville and The Negotiator. All three films were dedicated to his memory.
Walsh died from a heart attack in Lemon Grove, California on February 27, 1998. He was 54 years old. Actor Jack Nicholson dedicated his Academy Award for As Good as It Gets to the memory of Walsh, with whom he had starred with in both 1992 films A Few Good Men and Hoffa.