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Kevin McCarthy (actor)

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Kevin McCarthy
in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Born(1914-02-15)February 15, 1914
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 2010(2010-09-11) (aged 96)
Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1944–2010
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1941⁠–⁠1961)​
2 children
Kate Crane
​
(m. 1970⁠–⁠2010)​
(his death) 3 children

Kevin McCarthy (February 15, 1914 – September 11, 2010)[1] was an American stage, film, and television actor who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the film version of Death of a Salesman (1951), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor.[2] McCarthy is probably best known for his starring role in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), a horror science fiction film.[3]

Life and career

McCarthy was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Martha Therese (née Preston) and Roy Winfield McCarthy.[4] McCarthy's father was from a wealthy Irish American family based in Minnesota, and his mother was born in Washington state to a Protestant father and a Jewish mother.[5] He was the brother of the author Mary McCarthy, and a distant cousin of former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. His parents both died in the 1918 flu pandemic and the four children were sent to live with relatives in Minneapolis. After five years of near-Dickensian mistreatment, described in Mary McCarthy’s memoirs, the children were split up: Mary moved in with their maternal grandparents, and Kevin and his younger brothers were cared for by other relatives in Minneapolis.[3] McCarthy graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1932,[6] and attended the University of Minnesota, where he participated in his first play Henry IV, Part 1, and discovered a love of acting.

During World War II, in addition to his regular acting career, McCarthy appeared in a number of training films for the United States Army Air Corps. At least one of these films (covering the Boeing B-17), has been distributed on DVD.

McCarthy went on to have a long and distinguished career as a character actor. He has had some starring roles sprinkled in his career, in particular the science fiction film classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). On television, he had roles in two short-lived series: The Survivors (1969) with Lana Turner; and NBC's Flamingo Road (1980–82) as Claude Weldon, father of the Morgan Fairchild character. He appeared with Alexis Smith in the NBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show in the episode "We Who Love Her" (1956). McCarthy appeared too in the 1959 episode "The Wall Between" of CBS's anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He guest starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Long Live Walter Jameson" (1960), as the title character.

In 1963, McCarthy appeared in the ABC medical drama Breaking Point in the episode entitled "Fire and Ice". In 1966 he appeared in the episode "Wife Killer" of the ABC series The Fugitive. In 1967, he appeared in the episode "Never Chase a Rainbow" of NBC's western series The Road West starring Barry Sullivan. In 1971, he guest starred in the "Conqueror's Gold" episode of Bearcats! which starred Rod Taylor with whom he appeared in the films "A Gathering of Eagles," "Hotel (1967 film)" and "The Hell With Heroes". In 1977, he and Clu Gulager appeared in the episode "The Army Deserter" of another NBC western series, The Oregon Trail, which also starred Rod Taylor. In 1985, McCarthy guest-starred in a fourth Season episode of The A-Team called "Members Only". Earlier, he had starred in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer.

McCarthy appeared as Judge Crandall in The Midnight Hour, a 1985 comedy/horror television movie.

McCarthy was one of three actors (along with Dick Miller and Robert Picardo) frequently cast by director Joe Dante. McCarthy's most notable role in Dante's films was in 1987 as the main antagonist, Victor Scrimshaw, in Innerspace.

In 1996 he played the role of Gordon Fitzpatrick in The Pandora Directive, an FMV adventure game starring Tex Murphy.

In 2007 McCarthy appeared as himself in the Anthony Hopkins film Slipstream. The film made several references to his Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

On October 24, 2009, McCarthy was honored at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.[7]

His last appearance in a feature-length movie was as Bishop Ryder in the period drama Wesley.

Personal life

McCarthy was married to Augusta Dabney, with whom he had three children, from 1941 until their divorce in 1961. In 1979, he married Kate Crane, who survived him. The couple had two children.[3] From 1942, McCarthy had a long and close friendship with the actor Montgomery Clift. McCarthy and Clift were cast in the same play together, Ramon Naya's Mexican Mural. The two of them, along with McCarthy's wife Augusta Dabney, quickly became the best of friends and were believed to be lovers by Tennessee Williams and George Whitmore.[8] They socialized with each other and acted together in several projects. The two also collaborated on a screenplay for a film adaptation of the Williams/Windham play You Touched Me!, but the project never came to fruition.

Death

McCarthy died of pneumonia on September 11, 2010 at the age of 96.

Selected filmography

  • Operation Heartbeat (1969)

References

  1. ^ McLellan, Dennis (1914-02-15). "Kevin McCarthy obituary: 'Body Snatchers' actor McCarthy dies". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  2. ^ Montgomery Clift by Patricia Bosworth, p. 225
  3. ^ a b c Gates, Anita (September 12, 2010). "Kevin McCarthy, Actor, Dies at 96". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  4. ^ Kevin McCarthy Biography (1914-)
  5. ^ "Mary McCarthy, age 11, returns to Seattle to live with her maternal grandparents in 1923". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2010-09-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ http://www.campion-knights.org/Notables/
  7. ^ Veteran Actor Kevin Mccarthy Honored at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
  8. ^ George Whitmore in Winston Leyland (ed), Gay Sunshine Interviews, (San Francisco, Gay Sunshine Press 1978), p. 324.
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