Kevin McCarthy (actor)

Kevin McCarthy (February 15, 1914 – September 11, 2010) was an American actor who gave over 200 television and film performances. He is best remembered for portraying the male lead in the horror science fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

Following several television guest roles, McCarthy gave his first credited film performance in Death of a Salesman (1951), portraying Biff Loman to Fredric March's Willy Loman. The role earned him a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Life and career
McCarthy was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Roy Winfield McCarthy and Martha Therese (née Preston). McCarthy's father was descended from a wealthy Irish American family based in Minnesota. His mother was born in Washington state to a Protestant father and a nonobservant Jewish mother; McCarthy's mother converted to Catholicism before her marriage. He was the brother of author Mary McCarthy, and a distant cousin of U.S. senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota. His parents both died in the 1918 flu pandemic, and the four children went to live with relatives in Minneapolis. After five years of near-Dickensian mistreatment, described in Mary McCarthy's memoirs, the children were separated: Mary moved in with their maternal grandparents, and Kevin and his younger brothers were cared for by relatives in Minneapolis. McCarthy graduated in 1932 from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, then attended the University of Minnesota, where he appeared in his first play Henry IV, Part 1, and discovered a love of acting.

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

McCarthy was a founding member of The Actors Studio.

McCarthy enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a character actor, in both film and television. His breakthrough role came with Death of a Salesman (1951), in which he portrayed Biff Loman to Fredric March's Willy Loman. He had first performed the role in the London theatrical debut and was the only member of that ensemble to be cast in László Benedek's film adaptation. He received good notices for his onscreen work, receiving the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He went on to have a number of starring roles, most notably in the science fiction film classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). On television, he had starring roles in two short-lived series: The Survivors (1969) with Lana Turner; and NBC's Flamingo Road (1980–1982) as Claude Weldon, father of Morgan Fairchild's character. He also appeared as a guest star in countless television programs, playing a wide variety of character roles.

McCarthy appeared with Alexis Smith in the NBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show in the episode "We Who Love Her" (1956). He was cast in an episode of the religion anthology series, Crossroads. McCarthy appeared in the 1959 episode "The Wall Between" of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He guest starred in a classic episode of CBS's The Twilight Zone entitled "Long Live Walter Jameson" (1960), as the title character.

McCarthy made two appearances in The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford. He portrayed the historical Mark Twain in "The Shattered Idol" (episode 120), original air date: December 4, 1961, and Winslow Quince in "Suspicion" (episode 157), original air date: January 14, 1963.
The Rifleman - Season 4 Episodes
The Rifleman - Suspicion, Episode 157, Season 5

In 1963, McCarthy appeared in the ABC medical drama Breaking Point in the episode titled "Fire and Ice". He guest starred in the ABC drama Going My Way, about the Roman Catholic priesthood in New York City. He was cast as well in a 1964 episode of James Franciscus's NBC education drama, Mr. Novak. In 1966, he appeared in the episode "Wife Killer" of the ABC adventure series The Fugitive. In 1967, he guest starred in the episode "Never Chase a Rainbow" of NBC's western series, The Road West starring Barry Sullivan.

In 1968, he guest starred on Hawaii Five-O in the episode "Full Fathom Five" as the chief antagonist, Victor Reese. The Wild Wild West (CBS) Season 4 (1968–69) His turn as Maj. Gen Kroll in The Night of the Doomsday Formula made one of the best villains of the series. In 1971, he guest starred in the "Conqueror's Gold" episode of Bearcats!, which starred Rod Taylor with whom McCarthy had appeared in the films A Gathering of Eagles, Hotel and The Hell With Heroes.

In 1977, he and Clu Gulager, previously cast with Barry Sullivan on NBC's The Tall Man, appeared in the episode "The Army Deserter" of the NBC western series The Oregon Trail, with Rod Taylor. In 1985, McCarthy guest-starred in a fourth-season episode of The A-Team called "Members Only". Earlier, he starred in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer

In 1978, McCarthy played a cameo role in a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as a man running through the streets shouting a warning in the same fashion as his character did in the original 1956 film.

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

McCarthy was one of four actors (with Dick Miller, Belinda Balaski and Robert Picardo) often cast by director Joe Dante. McCarthy's most notable role in Dante's films was in 1987 as the prime antagonist, Victor Scrimshaw, in Innerspace. They also were  in Dante's Matinee (1993 film).

In 1989, he played television station owner R.J. Fletcher in Weird Al Yankovic's film UHF. Yankovic noted that "Kevin McCarthy was terrific. We had set him up to be this really rotten bad guy; but every time the director said, 'CUT!,' McCarthy would burst out laughing."

In 1996, he played Gordon Fitzpatrick in The Pandora Directive, a Full motion video (FMV) adventure game starring Tex Murphy.

In 2007, McCarthy appeared as himself in the Anthony Hopkins film Slipstream which made references to McCarthy's film Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

On October 24, 2009, McCarthy was honored at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in Florida.

His last role in a feature-length movie was as The Grand Inquisitor in the sci-fi musical comedy The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012).

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.

From 1942, McCarthy and his wife Augusta Dabney had a close friendship with actor Montgomery Clift. McCarthy and Clift were cast in a play together, Ramon Naya's Mexican Mural. The two became best friends, acted together in several more projects and were believed by some prominent individuals, including Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and George Whitmore, to have been lovers. They also collaborated on a screenplay for a film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams/Donald Windham play You Touched Me!, but the project never came to fruition.

McCarthy died of pneumonia on September 11, 2010 at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts at the age of ninety-six.

Selected filmography

Winged Victory (1944) as Ronnie Meade (uncredited)
Death of a Salesman (1951) as Biff Loman
Drive a Crooked Road (1954) as Bank Robber Steve Norris
The Gambler from Natchez (1954) as André Rivage
Stranger on Horseback (1955) as Tom Bannerman
An Annapolis Story (1955) as James R. 'Jim' Scott
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) as Dr. Miles Bennell
Nightmare (1956) as Stan Grayson
Diamond Safari (1958) as Harry Jordan
The Twilight Zone (1960, TV Series) as Prof. Walter Jameson / Tom Bowen / Maj. Hugh Skelton
The Misfits (1961) as Raymond Tabor
Way Out (1961, TV Series) as Dr. Paul Sandham
40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) as Louie Blanchard
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) as Gen. 'Happy Jack' Kirby
An Affair of the Skin (1963) as Allen McCleod
The Prize (1963) as Dr. John Garrett
The Best Man (1964) as Dick Jensen
Mirage (1965) as Sylvester Josephson
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) as Otto Habershaw
The Three Sisters (1966) as Vershinin
Hotel (1967) as Curtis O'Keefe
The Hell with Heroes (1968) as Col. Wilson
If He Hollers, Let Him Go! (1968) as Leslie Whitlock
Ace High (1968) as Drake
Operation Heartbeat (1969, TV Series) as Clifford Coswell
Richard (1972) as Washington Doctor
Kansas City Bomber (1972) as Burt Henry
Columbo (1973, TV Series) as Dr. Frank Simmons
June Moon (1974, TV Series) as Hart
Alien Thunder (1974) as Sgt. Malcolm Grant
Order to Assassinate (1975) as Ed McLean
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) as The Publicist (Maj. John Burke)
Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977, TV Movie) as Tom Atherton
Piranha (1978) as Dr. Robert Hoak
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) as Running man (cameo appearance)
Hero at Large (1980) as Calvin Donnelly
Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980) as Mickey Bellinger
The Howling (1981) as Fred Francis
My Tutor (1983) as Mr. Chrystal
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) as Uncle Walt (segment "It's a Good Life")
Making of a Male Model (1983) as Ward Hawley
Terror in the Aisles (1984) (archival footage)
Invitation to Hell (1984, TV Movie) as Mr. Thompson
The Midnight Hour (1985, TV Movie) as Judge Crandall
Raw Terror (1986)
A Masterpiece of Murder (1986, TV Movie) as Jonathan Hire
Innerspace (1987) as Victor Eugene Scrimshaw
Hostage (1987) as Col. Tim Shaw
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) (TV) as Franklyn Hutton (parts 1-4)
Once Upon a Texas Train (1988, TV Movie) as The Governor
Dark Tower (1989) as Sergie
Fast Food (1989) as Judge Reinholte
UHF (1989) as R.J. Fletcher
Love or Money (1990) as William Reed
The Sleeping Car (1990) as Vincent Tuttle
Eve of Destruction (1991) as William Simmons (uncredited)
Final Approach (1991) as Gen. Geller
Ghoulies III: Ghoulies go to College (1991, Video) as Professor Ragnar
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) as Terry Corrigan
Matinee (1993) as Gen. Ankrum (uncredited)
Greedy (1994) as Bartlett
Judicial Consent (1994) as Judge Pollan
Just Cause (1995) as Phil Prentiss
Steal Big Steal Little (1995) as Reed Tyler
Mommy (1995) as Fire Department Rescuer
Addams Family Reunion (1998, TV Movie) as Grandpa Addams
The Legend of Razorback (2002) as Zondervan
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as Dr. Miles Bennell (cameo)
Loving Annabelle (2006) as Father Harris
Fallen Angels (2006) as Pastor Waltz
Slipstream (2007) as Himself
Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007) as Latecomer
The Boneyard Collection (2008)
Her Morbid Desires (2008, Video) as The Monk
Wesley (2009) as Bishop Ryder
The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012) as The Grand Inquisitor (final film role)

Radio appearances

See also

References

External links

Official site (last updated in 2007)

Category:1914 births
Category:2010 deaths
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:Male actors from Minneapolis
Category:Male actors from Seattle
Category:Military personnel from Seattle
Category:American male film actors
Category:American army personnel of World War II
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:American people of Jewish descent
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Jewish American male actors
Category:Deaths from pneumonia
Category:New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners
Category:United States Army soldiers
Category:University of Minnesota alumni