A prolific and versatile character actor, Walsh, the son of a US Army controller, was born in San Francisco and raised in Europe. The family eventually settled in Newport, RI. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island and worked variously as a social worker, journalist, teacher and restaurant manager before deciding at age 30 to try his luck as an actor in New York. A decade of stage work followed. Walsh, whose birth name is James Patrick (he adopted 'J T' due to a typographical error), made his first appearance in the Manhattan Theater Club's production of "Yucca Flats" (1973) and went
