Dylan Walsh

Walsh was born Charles Hunter Walsh in Los Angeles, California. His maternal grandfather, Frank P. Haven, was a managing editor of the Los Angeles Times. His parents worked for the Foreign Service—they met in Ethiopia. As a result, Walsh lived in Kenya, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia as a child. His family returned to the United States when he was ten years old and settled in Virginia, where Walsh began acting in high school. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1986 with a degree in English. After graduating from college, Walsh moved to New York City to act professionally. Per Julia Roberts, she met Dylan who was working as a waiter at Empire Diner in New York and she introduced him to her manager, Robert McGowan, who signed Dylan.

Walsh's first role was in a television movie called Soldier Boys with James Earl Jones. He then landed a role in the movie Loverboy and a regular role on the television series Kate & Allie. In 1989, he started using the name Dylan Walsh professionally. He continued to work in films including Betsy's Wedding, Nobody's Fool, Congo, The Stepfather, and Secretariat and guest starred the television series Brooklyn South, The Twilight Zone, and Everwood.

In 2003, Walsh landed the role of Sean McNamara on the FX television series Nip/Tuck, after being approached by series creator Ryan Murphy in a coffee shop. Murphy remembered him from his roles in Nobody's Fool and in a television movie.

Walsh starred as Lieutenant Al Burns in all four seasons of CBS's crime-drama series Unforgettable, which ran from 2011 to 2016.

In April 2020, Walsh was cast as Sam Lane, the father of Lois Lane, on The CW action-superhero series Superman & Lois.

Walsh was married from 1996 to 2003 to actress Melora Walters, with whom he had two children, Thomas Walsh (b. 1996) and Joanna Walsh (b. 1997). After the couple divorced, Walsh married actress Joanna Going on October 10, 2004, and the two had a daughter, Stella Walsh, who was born in 2003. In 2010, Walsh announced he had filed for divorce.

Walsh met Leslie Bourque and had a daughter, Amelie Belle, and a son, Hudson Scott. Walsh and Bourque were married June 3, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

On August 15, 2025, Walsh was involved in a single car accident with his wife and their two children in Rumson, New Jersey. $5000 of electrical damage was done to a nearby residence after Walsh struck a utility pole. Police issued Walsh citations for six motor vehicle violations including having open containers of alcohol in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and expired registration. While Walsh acknowledged to officers that he had been drinking earlier in the day, his team clarified that his blood alcohol content (BAC) tested below the legal limit. Walsh was not charged with driving while intoxicated and the accident was most likely caused by heat stroke or heat exhaustion.