J. T. Walsh
Birthday: Born in 1943-09-28 in San Francisco, California, USA
Deathday: 1998-02-27
James Thomas Patrick 'J.T.' Walsh (September 28, 1943 - February 27, 1998) was a highly talented American actor. He had a successful career in film, television, and theater, known for his versatility and ability to play a wide range of characters. Before becoming an actor, he worked as a stagehand and set builder. He made his on-screen debut in the early 1980s and quickly gained recognition for his convincing performances, often portraying authority figures or antagonists. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, his career took off with notable roles in films like Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), and Sling Blade (1996). He had a commanding and intense presence on screen, making him memorable in both lead and supporting roles. He was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs" (quote from Leonard Maltin) in numerous feature films and was described as "everybody's favourite scumbag" by Playboy magazine. He was known for his dedication to authenticity and his meticulous approach to acting. He seamlessly transitioned between genres, showcasing his talent in drama, comedy, and suspense, earning him respect as a character actor. Sadly, his career was cut short when he passed away on February 27, 1998, at the age of 54. Despite his relatively short time in the spotlight, he left a lasting legacy, remembered for his memorable performances and the depth he brought to each character he portrayed.
TV Credits
Dark Skies
Character: Frank Bach
Dark Skies is an American UFO conspiracy theory-based sci-fi television series that aired from the 1996 to 1997 season for 18 episodes, plus a two-hour pilot episode. The success of The X-Files on Fox proved there was an audience for science fiction shows, resulting in NBC commissioning this proposed competitor following a pitch from producers Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman. The series debuted September 21, 1996 on NBC, and was later rerun by the Sci-Fi Channel. Its tagline was "History as we kn...
Spenser: For Hire
Character:
Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new murder mystery each episode....
L.A. Law
Character: Pete Bostik
L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay right...
The Equalizer
Character: Andrew Banks
Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them....
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Character: Col. Charles Fane
A much more lavish version of the popular Superman television series which had first aired forty years earlier, Lois & Clark focused more on the Man of Steel's early adult years in Metropolis. With the unknowing help of Lois Lane, Clark Kent created Superman there in Metropolis after finding work at the world-famous Daily Planet newspaper, where he meets fellow reporter Lois Lane....
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Character:
The story deals with Gloria Vanderbilt's difficult coming-of-age when, at eleven, she was a pawn in a custody battle between her sybaritic mother and her aunt....
The X-Files
Character: Warden Leo Brodeur
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases....
The Equalizer
Character: Sam Griffith
Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them....
Movie Credits
A Few Good Men
Character: Lt. Col. Matthew A. Markinson
When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep....
The Russia House
Character: Colonel Quinn
Barley Scott Blair, a Lisbon-based editor of Russian literature who unexpectedly begins working for British intelligence, is commissioned to investigate the purposes of Dante, a dissident scientist trapped in the decaying Soviet Union that is crumbling under the new open-minded policies....
Breakdown
Character: Warren 'Red' Barr
On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy....
Miracle on 34th Street
Character: Ed Collins
Six-year-old Susan Walker has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle—Santa Claus. Her mother told her the secret about Santa a long time ago, but, after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all—something to believe in....
Good Morning, Vietnam
Character: Sgt. Major Dickerson
A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor....
Misery
Character: State Trooper Sherman Douglas (uncredited)
After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off....
Executive Decision
Character: Senator Mavros
Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant (Kurt Russell) suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers....
Needful Things
Character: Danforth 'Buster' Keeton III
A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected....
Pleasantville
Character: Big Bob
Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life....
Tequila Sunrise
Character: DEA Agent Hal McGuire
In a seaside California town, best friends Mac and Nick are on opposite sides of the law. Mac is a former drug dealer trying to clean up his act, while Nick is a high-profile detective trying to take down a Mexican drug lord named Carlos. Soon Nick's loyalties are put to the test when he begins an affair with restaurateur Jo Ann -- a love interest of Mac's -- unwittingly leading his friend into a police-orchestrated trap....
Hoffa
Character: Frank Fitzsimmons
A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt....
The Client
Character: Jason McThune
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says....
Red Rock West
Character: Wayne Brown
When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle....
Backdraft
Character: Alderman Marty Swayzak
Firemen brothers Brian and Stephen McCaffrey battle each other over past slights while trying to stop an arsonist with a diabolical agenda from torching Chicago....
Nixon
Character: John Ehrlichman
A look at President Richard M. Nixon—a man carrying the fate of the world on his shoulders while battling the self-destructive demands from within—spanning his troubled boyhood in California to the shocking Watergate scandal that would end his Presidency....
Dad
Character: Dr. Santana
A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life....
Narrow Margin
Character: Michael Tarlow
An L.A. District Attorney attempts to take an unwilling murder witness back to the United States to testify against a top-level mob boss. Frantically attempting to escape two deadly hitmen sent to silence her, they board a Vancouver-bound train only to discover that the killers are onboard with them. For the next 20 hours, as the train hurls through the beautiful but isolated Canadian wilderness, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues in which their ability to tell friend from foe is a matter of ...
The Last Seduction
Character: Frank Griffith
A devious femme fatale steals her husband’s drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme....
Sniper
Character: Beckett's Senior Officer
Tough guy Thomas Beckett is an US soldier working in the Panamanian jungle. His job is to seek out rebels and remove them using his sniper skills. Beckett is notorious for losing his partners on such missions. This time he's accompanied by crack marksman Richard Miller....
Sling Blade
Character: Charles Bushman
Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world....
The Negotiator
Character: Insp. Terence Niebaum
The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy....
House of Games
Character: The Businessman
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men....
Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number
Character:
An Argentinian newspaper publisher is imprisoned by his government for dissent....
Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade
Character: Charles Bushman
25 years after committing a double murder, Karl Childers is going to be released from an institution for the criminally insane. A local reporter comes to talk to him, and listens in horror about his life leading up to the crime. This is the short film that inspired the full-length "Sling Blade"....
Defenseless
Character: Steven Seldes
A Los Angeles lawyer defends her former college roommate, whose husband — her lover — has been slain....
The Babysitter
Character: Harry Tucker
Jennifer (Alicia Silverstone) is a lovely teen who has been hired to baby-sit the kids of Harry Tucker (J.T. Walsh) and his wife, Dolly (Lee Garlington). The Tuckers go to a party and proceed to get inebriated, with Mr. Tucker fantasizing about his beautiful baby sitter. Meanwhile, Jack (Jeremy London), her boyfriend, and Mark (Nicky Katt), another guy interested in her, decide to spy on Jennifer at the Tucker house, with each young man also fixated on her....
The Big Picture
Character: Allen Habel
Hollywood beckons for recent film school grad Nick Chapman, who is out to capitalize on the momentum from his national award-winning student film. Studio executive Allen Habel seduces Nick with a dream deal to make his first feature, but once production gets rolling, corporate reality begins to intervene: Nick is unable to control a series of compromises to his high-minded vision, and it's all he can do to maintain his integrity in the midst of filmmaking chaos....
Crazy People
Character: Drucker
A bitter ad executive, who has reached his breaking point, finds himself in a mental institution, where his career actually begins to thrive with the help of the hospital's patients....
Silent Fall
Character: Sheriff Mitch Rivers
Having seen the double murder of his parents, autistic youth Tim Warden is sent to therapy with controversial therapist Dr. Jake Rainer. Jake tries to probe the silent child about what he saw, but he gets more details about the Wardens' household dynamics from Tim's teenage sister, Sylvie. As he spends more time with the siblings, Jake learns that the Wardens' marriage was not as perfect as it seemed, and he uncovers other new details that might help solve the crime....
The Grifters
Character: Cole
A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play....
Iron Maze
Character: Jack Ruhle
In Corinth, a dying town 15 miles from Pittsburgh: One evening, a Japanese businessman, who wanted to tear down the closed iron mills to build an amusement park, is found half dead in his mill. Bellboy Barry admits to have done it - in self defense. Chief Ruhle interrogates him and Sugito's young wife and business partners, but it takes a while, until he gets through the maze of apparently contradictory statements....
Black Day Blue Night
Character: Lt. John Quinn
A wife's husband is cheating on her. She decides to go on a road trip with her husband's other woman. While driving the two women pick up a hitchhiker. The man they pick up may be a robber and murderer on the run from the cops. A policeman who is tracking the hitchhiker has a close eye on them, but the question is why?...
Blue Chips
Character: Happy
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around....
Persons Unknown
Character: Cake
When former cop and current security expert Jim Holland has a one night stand with Amanda after getting in her way roller-blading. That introduction turns out to be a well thought out plan by Amanda and her sister Molly, to obtain security codes. The girls and their cohorts rob his client and stash the loot. All the while, detective Jim has been following them and he grabs the money for himself. Then his conscience gets the best of him and he falls in love with Molly. His client turns out to be ...
True Identity
Character: Houston
In order to escape from the mob, an African-American man must disguise himself as a white man....
Wired
Character: Bob Woodward
The ghost of John Belushi looks back on his troubled life and career....
Gang in Blue
Character: Lt. William Eyler
A black police officer discovers a cell of white supremacist vigilantes within his department....
Why Me?
Character: Francis Mahoney
A jewel thief steals a sacred ruby which sets off a chase by the police, the Turkish government, nutty American terrorists, and the CIA....
The Beniker Gang
Character: Principal Stoddard
When his younger friends go up for adoption, threatening their extended family, an orphaned teen helps them discourage potential parents....
The Prom
Character: Grover Dean
Marty is not comfortable showing his body at college or private. He is suffering from a skin disease called nevus flammeus. In town he stumbles on The Dunes. A porn-shop-theme-park with one booth named "The Prom". This is where Lana works....
Crime of the Century
Character: Col. Norman Schwarzkopf
In 1932, the nation was shocked when the 14-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped, held for ransom, and murdered. Two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, convicted, and executed. This film dramatizes the investigation against Hauptmann, the trial, and the execution, painting a picture of a corrupt police force under pressure to finger a killer framing an innocent man by manufacturing evidence, paying-off and blackmailing witnesses, and covering up exculpatory evidence....
Dark Skies
Character: Capt. Frank Bach
In 1960s America, a young couple struggle to expose the truth about a hidden alien invasion, while a secret government organization follows its own agenda in dealing with the threat....
Hidden Agenda
Character: Jonathan Zanuck
A young medical student travels to Berlin to investigate the apparent death of his brother and discovers a secret life of espionage, betrayal and murder at the highest levels....
Contact
Character: Radio Lieutenant
An American soldier and an Arab soldier confront each other during wartime in the desert, each hoping to kill the other. But in order to survive, they must lay down their arms and cooperate....
The Little Death
Character: Ted Hannon
A photographer obsessed with a wealthy man's beautiful wife kills her jealous husband in self-defense. The deceased man's down-and-out musician son soon is drawn in by his sexy stepmother who, unbeknownst to him, is scheming to collect the entire estate....
Hard Choices
Character: Deputy Anderson
A teenaged boy goes for a ride with his brother and the brother's friends, who proceed to rob a store and murder the clerk. They are caught and, despite the young boy's protestations, he is convicted of murder and sent to prison. A female social worker assigned to the boy's case not only believes him, but begins to fall in love with him, and determines to either help him prove his innocence or escape....
Right to Kill?
Character: Maj. Eckworth
Based on true story of teens Richard and Deborah Jahnke charged in Wyoming for the killing of their abusive father....
Morning Glory
Character: Sheriff Reese Goodloe
An ex-convict who is on parole is accused of murdering a loose woman in the town where he works....
Star Struck
Character: Greer
A farm boy (Kirk Cameron) travels to Hollywood to rekindle a romance with a childhood sweetheart (Chelsea Noble), who's now an actress on the road to stardom---and soon to wed her costar (D.W. Moffett)...
Hannah and Her Sisters
Character: Ed Smythe
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly....
Charlie's Ghost Story
Character: Darryl
Charlie is a kid whose archeologist father has made several discoveries while exploring a cave in Colorado. However, Charlie makes a discovery of his own -- the spirit of a long-dead explorer has come back to haunt him until his remains can be recovered and finally buried in a proper place. But Charlie can't manage this task on his own, with his old man being too busy with his work to aide the restless soul. What's a supernaturally-afflicted lad like him to do?...
The American Clock
Character:
Moe, Rose and Lee Baumler are members of an upper class family who find the world completely changed when they lose everything in the stock market crash of 1929. Lee, a college-age young man, who now faces no possibility of entering college, decides to go on the road to see what is happening to the rest of the country....
The Low Life
Character: Mike Sr
Yale graduate John has come to Hollywood to catch his big break. It hasn't happened yet....
In the Shadow of a Killer
Character: Insp. Leo Kemeny
Courtroom drama involving the mafia inspired by true events....
Things Change
Character: Hotel Manager
Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!...
Eddie Macon's Run
Character: Man in Bar
Eddie Macon is running from a nightmare... running to a dream... running for his life and his time is running out. He's escaped a Texas prison for the second time (risking life imprisonment if caught) to make it back to his wife and son. Relentlessly pursued by ruthless truant officer, Carl Marzack, who feels he must prove he can still 'get his man' by returning Macon to jail at any cost....
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
Character: Desk Clerk
An LA detective is murdered because she has microfilm with the recipe to make cocaine cookies. Two cops partner to find and stop the fiends before they can dope the nation by distributing their wares via the 'Wilderness Girls' cookie drive....
Outbreak
Character: Chief of Staff (uncredited)
A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col. Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined, and to prevent an over reaction by the White House....
Power
Character: Jerome Cade
Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade......
Tin Men
Character: Wing
A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore....
Sacred Cargo
Character: Father Stanislav
Two brothers head to Russia to help a group of priests smuggle $200 million worth of sacred relics out of the country in order to keep them out of the hands of neo-Nazis....