M. Emmet Walsh, character actor from 'Blade Runner' and 'Knives Out,' dies at 88

M. Emmet Walsh, one of Hollywood's most recognizable character actors from films including 1982's "Blade Runner" and the Coen Brothers' "Blood Simple," has died. He was 88.

His manager, Sandy Joseph, shared the news Wednesday in a statement via Walsh's publicist, Cynthia Snyder. Walsh died of cardiac arrest in St. Albans, Vermont, on Tuesday, per Joseph.

"Walsh's tremendous body of work includes 119 feature films and more than 250 television productions," Joseph said.

Michael Emmet Walsh was born on March 22, 1935, in Ogdensburg, New York. He was raised in Swanton, Vermont, and maintained a home on Lake Champlain while he was a working actor. Walsh started to go by M. Emmet Walsh "due to a union stipulation which prevented him from using his first name," according to his manager.

In 1959, Walsh moved to New York City to study acting after earning a degree in business administration at Clarkson University upstate in Potsdam, New York.

“I knew nothing when I arrived" in New York City, Walsh told USA TODAY in 2015. "I didn’t speak well and was deaf in one ear, but I didn’t want to look back when I was 40 and wonder whether I should have given acting a try.”

He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1961 and spent several years performing in theater productions, including "Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?" a 1969 production that earned Al Pacino a Tony Award. Following his onscreen debut in the 1969 film "Alice's Restaurant," Walsh moved across the country to Los Angeles in 1970 to pursue film and TV.

As his career took off in the '70s, Walsh starred alongside Hollywood's best-known actors including Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand (1972's "What's Up, Doc?"), Paul Newman (1977's "Slap Shot"), Dustin Hoffman (1970's "Little Big Man" and 1978's "Straight Time"), Steve Martin (1979's "The Jerk"), Harrison Ford ("Blade Runner") and Frances McDormand ("Blood Simple").

On TV, Walsh was seen in shows such as "The Righteous Gemstones," "Sneaky Pete" and "The Mind of the Married Man."

In the '90s and 2000s, he played roles such as Dermot Mulroney's dad in "My Best Friend's Wedding" and racetrack gambler Sheriff Woodzie in "Racing Stripes." He also acted in "Outlaw Posse," a Western film released earlier this month starring Whoopi Goldberg and Cedric the Entertainer.

"I don't want to play the same type of character 10 times," Walsh previously told USA TODAY. "I want to be a garbage collector in one film and a governor in the next."

"I got a degree in business administration and marketing," he said. "That background taught me to live modestly when you're working so you can survive on your savings when things aren’t going so well. I’ve had actor friends who made 10 times the money I did, but they have nothing now. I knew what to do with a dollar."

He added, “I approach each job thinking it might be my last, so it had better be the best work possible.”

Walsh is survived by a niece and nephew and two grandnephews.