Kevin McCarthy (actor)
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- For other people named Kevin McCarthy, see Kevin McCarthy.
Kevin McCarthy | |
|---|---|
 in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) | |
| Other names | Kevin Mc Carthy Kelvin McCarthy Kevin Mccarthy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1944–2010 |
| Spouse(s) |
Kate Crane (m. 1970–2010) |
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 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, 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, a 1956 horror science fiction film.[3]
Early 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 Catholic 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. He graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1932, and attended the University of Minnesota, where he participated in his first play Henry IV, Part 1, and discovered a love of acting.
McCarthy went on to have a long and distinguished career as a character actor. He has had some starring roles sprinkled in his career, most notably the science fiction film classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. On television, he had roles in two short-lived series: The Survivors with Lana Turner; and NBC's Flamingo Road as Claude Weldon, father of the Morgan Fairchild character. In 1956, he appeared with Alexis Smith in the NBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show in the episode "We Who Love Her". 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 the 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Long Live Walter Jameson", 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 1977, he and Clu Gulager appeared in the episode "The Army Deserter" of another NBC western series, The Oregon Trail, starring Rod Taylor, a program cancelled after only six weeks on the air. In 1985, McCarthy guest-starred in a fourth Season episode of The A-Team called "Members Only".
McCarthy was one of three actors (along with Dick Miller and Robert Picardo) frequently cast by director Joe Dante.
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.[6]
Personal life
McCarthy was married to Augusta Dabney, with whom he had three children, from 1941 until their divorce in 1961. In 1970, 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. They socialized together and acted in several projects together. 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.
McCarthy died of natural causes on September 11, 2010 at the age of 96.
Selected filmography
- Winged Victory (1944)
- Death of a Salesman (1951)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- Nightmare (1956)
- The Misfits (1961)
- Way Out (1961) (TV)
- A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
- The Prize (1963)
- The Best Man (1964)
- Mirage (1965)
- A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
- Hotel (1967)
- Kansas City Bomber (1972)
- June Moon (1974)
- Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), (Cameo appearance)
- Piranha (1978)
- The Howling (1981)
- Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
- My Tutor (1983)
- Terror in the Aisles (1984) (archival footage)
- Innerspace (1987)
- Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) (TV)
- UHF (1989)
- The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
- Greedy (1994)
- Just Cause (1995)
- Addams Family Reunion (1998) (straight to video)
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
- Loving Annabelle (2006)
- Fallen Angels (2006) - Pastor Waltz
- Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007) - Latecomer
- Her Morbid Desires (2008) - The Monk
- Wesley (2009) - Bishop Ryder
- The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2009) (filming) - The Grand Inquisitor
References
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (1914-02-15). "Kevin McCarthy obituary: 'Body Snatchers' actor McCarthy dies". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
- ^ Montgomery Clift by Patricia Bosworth, p. 225
- ^ a b Gates, Anita (September 12, 2010). "Kevin McCarthy, Actor, Dies at 96". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
- ^ Kevin McCarthy Biography (1914-)
- ^ "Mary McCarthy, age 11, returns to Seattle to live with her maternal grandparents in 1923". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
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External links
- Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
- McCarthy at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.