M. Emmet Walsh

Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine (née Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent. He is of Irish descent. He was raised in a rural area of Vermont, and attended college at Clarkson University.

He came to prominence in the 1978 crime drama, Straight Time, in which he played a sadistic parole officer. He also had a memorable role as a crazed sniper in the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. One of his most well-known roles was Bryant in Ridley Scott’s cult classic Blade Runner. His most acclaimed performance, arguably, was the double-crossing private detective in Blood Simple (1984), for which he won the 1986 Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. Walsh made occasional guest appearances on Home Improvement as Tim Allen’s father-in-law. In 1992 he appeared as a powerful U.S. Senator in David Winning’s Killer Image, playing Michael Ironside’s brother. In Christmas with the Kranks, he played one of Allen’s neighbors. He also appeared as Alex Lembeck, a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton’s (Sandy Duncan) chaperone/protector on The Sandy Duncan Show in 1972. —Wikipedia