M. Emmet Walsh, the character actor who brought his unmistakable face and unsettling presence to including 91裸聊视频淏lood Simple91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淏lade Runner,91裸聊视频� has died at age 88, his manager said Wednesday.

Walsh died from cardiac arrest on Tuesday at a hospital in St. Albans, Vermont, his longtime manager Sandy Joseph said.

The ham-faced, heavyset Walsh often played good old boys with bad intentions, as he did in one of his rare leading roles as a crooked Texas private detective in the Coen brothers91裸聊视频� first film, the 1984 neo-noir 91裸聊视频淏lood Simple.91裸聊视频�

Joel and Ethan Coen said they wrote the part for Walsh, who would win the first Film Independent Spirit Award for best male lead for the role.

Critics and film geeks relished the moments when he showed up on screen.

Roger Ebert once observed that 91裸聊视频渘o movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.91裸聊视频�

Walsh played a crazed sniper in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy 91裸聊视频淭he Jerk91裸聊视频� and a prostate-examining doctor in the 1985 Chevy Chase vehicle 91裸聊视频淔letch.91裸聊视频�

In 198291裸聊视频檚 gritty, 91裸聊视频淏lade Runner,91裸聊视频� a film he said was grueling and difficult to make with perfectionist director Ridley Scott, Walsh plays a hard-nosed police captain who pulls Harrison Ford from retirement to hunt down cyborgs.

Born Michael Emmet Walsh, his characters led people to believe he was from the American South, but he could hardly have been from any further north.

Walsh was raised on Lake Champlain in Swanton, Vermont, just a few miles from the U.S.-Canadian border, where his grandfather, father and brother worked as customs officers.

He went to a tiny local high school with a graduating class of 13, then to Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

He acted exclusively on the stage, with no intention of doing otherwise, for a decade, working in summer stock and repertory companies.

Walsh slowly started making film appearances in 1969 with a bit role in 91裸聊视频淎lice91裸聊视频檚 Restaurant,91裸聊视频� and did not start playing prominent roles until nearly a decade after that when he was in his 40s, getting his breakthrough with 197891裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淪traight Time,91裸聊视频� in which he played Dustin Hoffman91裸聊视频檚 smug, boorish parole officer.

Walsh was shooting 91裸聊视频淪ilkwood91裸聊视频� with Meryl Streep in Dallas in the autumn of 1982 when he got the offer for 91裸聊视频淏lood Simple91裸聊视频� from the Coen brothers, then-aspiring filmmakers who had seen and loved him in 91裸聊视频淪traight Time.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淢y agent called with a script written by some kids for a low-budget movie,91裸聊视频� Walsh told The Guardian in 2017. 91裸聊视频淚t was a Sydney Greenstreet kind of role, with a Panama suit and the hat. I thought it was kinda fun and interesting. They were 100 miles away in Austin, so I went down there early one day before shooting.91裸聊视频�

Walsh said the filmmakers didn91裸聊视频檛 even have enough money left to fly him to New York for the opening, but he would be stunned that first-time filmmakers had produced something so good.

91裸聊视频淚 saw it three or four days later when it opened in LA, and I was, like: Wow!91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淪uddenly my price went up five times. I was the guy everybody wanted.91裸聊视频�

In the film he plays Loren Visser, a detective asked to trail a man91裸聊视频檚 wife, then is paid to kill her and her lover.

Visser also acts as narrator, and the opening monologue, delivered in a Texas drawl, included some of Walsh91裸聊视频檚 most memorable lines.

91裸聊视频淣ow, in Russia they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else. That91裸聊视频檚 the theory, anyway,91裸聊视频� Visser says. 91裸聊视频淏ut what I know about is Texas. And down here, you91裸聊视频檙e on your own.91裸聊视频�

He was still working into his late 80s, making recent appearances on the TV series 91裸聊视频淭he Righteous Gemstones91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淎merican Gigolo.91裸聊视频�

And his more than 100 film credits included director Rian Johnson91裸聊视频檚 2019 family murder mystery, 91裸聊视频淜nives Out91裸聊视频� and director Mario Van Peebles91裸聊视频� Western 91裸聊视频淥utlaw Posse,91裸聊视频� released this year.

Johnson was among those paying tribute to Walsh on social media.

91裸聊视频淓mmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew,91裸聊视频� . 91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频橠on91裸聊视频檛 spend it and you91裸聊视频檒l never be broke.91裸聊视频� Absolute legend.91裸聊视频�

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press