M. Emmet Walsh

1935 – 2024

He appeared in hundreds of films, everything from Blade Runner to Cannery Row. But very few people realize if the stars had aligned just a bit more, E. Emmet Walsh would have been in a little movie I wrote called The Touristers.
 
Mr. Walsh was part of a package of actors that included George Takei and, I believe, Victoria Pratt. Of all the actor offers that were sent, these were signed.
 
Frankly, I am surprised that pre-production had gotten this far, as there was no financial backing.
 
George Takei was to play himself, the unwitting celebrity host of an MTV-style show called Road Rules, Victoria was playing a sister named Sal, and M. Emmett was playing John, an elderly man on a mission who was searching for the healing waters of San Sebastian for his aged, ailing wife.
 
All three would have been great, but I was most excited about Mr. Walsh. First, he was playing a version of my father. Secondly, he was a man who had co-starred in some of the greatest films of the new generation. Midnight Cowboy, Ordinary People, Reds, Silkwood, Blood Simple, Back to School, his career went on and on and on and on. He was always terrific and worth sticking around for, no matter how good or bad the picture. 
 
Alas, The Touristers never came to pass. This was mostly due to a producer who really didn’t know what he was doing. But, for one brief shining moment, there was a chance that I would be working with the one and only Mr. M. Emmet Walsh and that he would be playing my dad.