He graduated in 1958 (B.A., Business Administration). In 1998, the Clarkson Alumni Association presented him with the Golden Knight Award.

Walsh came to prominence in the 1978 crime film Straight Time, in which he played a parole officer. He also had a small but memorable role as a crazed sniper in the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. One of his best-known roles was Captain Harry Bryant in Ridley Scott’s cult film Blade Runner. His most acclaimed performance was arguably the double-crossing private detective in Blood Simple (1984), for which he won the 1986 Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

Walsh made occasional guest appearances on Home Improvement as Tim Taylor’s father-in-law. In 1992, he appeared as a powerful U.S. Senator in David Winning’s Killer Image. In Christmas with the Kranks, he played one of the Kranks’ neighbors. He also appeared as Alex Lembeck, a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton’s chaperone and protector on The Sandy Duncan Show in 1972. He appeared in an episode of the NBC drama series Gibbsville in 1976 and Little House on the Prairie in 1981. He appeared as Dr. Joseph Kroft, a medical examiner with a grudge against Sipowicz, on an episode of “NYPD Blue”.