7. J.T. Walsh
Before his death in February 1998 at the age of just 54, J.T. Walsh had built up an impressive collection of supporting roles in his 15 years on the big screen. Once famously described by Playboy magazine as 'everybody's favorite scumbag', the actor was one of Hollywood's go-to villains throughout the 1990's. Coming to prominence in the late 1980s with his roles in Hannah and Her Sisters, Good Morning Vietnam and Tequila Sunrise (his first of four collaborations with Kurt Russell), Walsh delivered a string of memorable performances over the next decade in critical and commercial hits Backdraft, A Few Good Men, The Client and Sling Blade. An actor that had no trouble moving between genres, Walsh also lent support to pictures as diverse as Sniper, Miracle on 34th Street, Outbreak, The Negotiator and Pleasantville to name but a few. Regularly typecast as the villain of the piece, it was a shame that audiences never got the chance to see J.T. Walsh play more sympathetic characters on the big screen. Still, his resume speaks for itself as a reminder of one of the 1990's most underrated character actors.