​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   James Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street and Breakdown. Walsh 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 favorite scumbag" by Playboy magazine. Description above from the Wikipedia article J. T. Walsh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.