The J.T. Walsh Awards: An Introduction

Ever since I was a kid, I was drawn to the "sidekick" characters; the henchmen, the assistants, the murder suspects and the school teachers. Movie stars are great and all that jazz, but the heart and soul of an ensemble often lies within the supporting cast: the horny best friend, the abusive boss, the comic relief, etc. ... Over the years I've made a habit out of putting all those faces to all those names, and I often find myself telling friends, "Oh, you know this actor. Not by his name, maybe, but trust me -- you've seen this guy." And there are hundreds of 'em to pick through: professional character constructors who toil just outside the spotlights afforded to your Jamie Foxxes and your Russell Crowes.

C'mon, who would you rather sit down and have dinner with: Tom Cruise or ... William H. Macy? I rest my case.

So since the recognition and appreciation of modern-day character actors is something the hardcore movie nuts enjoy, we thought it might be fun to throw some love at a few different performers each week. (And yes, the phrase "character actor" includes women too!) We'll call this column "The J.T. Walsh Award," simply because J.T. Walsh was one of the very coolest character players ever to hold a SAG card, and (despite never earning one measly Oscar nomination) we think J.T. Walsh deserves to have an award named after him. 
Beginning in 1982 with a not-bad little time-waster called Eddie Macon's Run, J.T. Walsh found himself working for directors like Sidney Lumet (Power), Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters), Christopher Guest (The Big Picture), Stephen Frears (The Grifters), Ron Howard (Backdraft), Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), William Friedkin (Blue Chips), and Oliver Stone (Nixon). Walsh worked twice with Barry Levinson (Tin Men & Good Morning Vietnam), twice with John Dahl (Red Rock West & The Last Seduction), and thrice with David Mamet (House of Games, Things Change & Hoffa).

Throughout the 80s & 90s, J.T. Walsh would pop up just about anywhere. Some of his most memorable performances were small ones -- or ones he didn't even receive screen credit for: a state trooper in Rob Reiner's Misery, a desperate blowhard in Fraser Heston's Needful Things, a grim politician in Wolfgang Petersen's Outbreak, a scary bastard in Jonathan Mostow's Breakdown. ...

He was in The Client and The Russia House and Tequila Sunrise and Sling Blade and Executive Decision and Narrow Margin and The Negotiator -- usually playing a really hateful jerkface of one form or another. And the guy was like a movie-watcher magnet. Whenever J.T. Walsh was on a movie screen, it was his scene to steal. And the guy stole hundreds. J.T. Walsh died of a heart attack in February of 1998. His final performance was a really memorable one: It came in Gary Ross' Pleasantville, and it's the very best thing in a truly excellent little movie.

So that's why we'll be calling this "The J.T. Walsh Award" and not "The All-Time Coolest Character Actor Award." Because, basically, they mean the same thing.