James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs" (quote from Leonard Maltin) in numerous feature films and "everybody's favorite scumbag" from Playboy Magazine.
The film, Outside Ozona (1998), was dedicated to his memory.
Negotiator, The (1998) was dedicated to the memory of JT
(1998) Jack Nicholson dedicated his Best Actor Academy Award (for As Good as It Gets (1997)) to Walsh.
Discovered by a director in 1974 and began working in off-broadway shows.
Big break in 1984 while working in David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" on broadway.
In just over a decade, he appeared in more than two dozen films.
Was on holiday at time of death.
Graduate of the University of Rhode Island, where he starred as an undergraduate in many college theater productions and was president of Students for a Democratic Society, an organization that grew out of the anti-war movement of the 1960s.
Early jobs included Social worker, encyclopedia salesman, junior high school teacher, and reporter.
Father of John West (VII).
Brother of Christopher Walsh, Patricia Walsh and Mary Walsh.
During childhood he attended a Jesuit boarding school in Ireland.
Pleasantville (1998) was dedicated to the memory of JT, as well as some others.
Dollar for the Dead (1998) (TV) was dedicated to him.
He spoke fluent German.
Early jobs also included tending bar at some of Manhattan's best seafood restaurants.
Hidden Agenda (1998), the last film he shot, was dedicated to his memory.
Before his death, he was hoping to follow the example of Gene Hackman and get away from playing the psychos and cowards he had been typecasted as, playing more complicated and substantial character parts.
