One of Hollywood's (and Broadway's) hardest working and longest working actors has passed. Kevin McCarthy, beloved as the leading man in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) and so many other wonderful films, died at the age of 96. His last film listed at IMDb is a 2010 one, DRAWBACK. My favorite of his, aside from genre work, was BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY (1966), a quirky, funny Western with an all-star cast. Kevin is listed as having done more than 200 films in his long life. Rest in peace, old friend! A sweetheart of a guy, he made me laugh many times.
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Although I had heard that his health was diminishing in recent months and even though he lived to a very nice age, it is still a sad loss for his family and his extended fn family. I never got to meet him in person, but was fortunate to hear great stories about him from friends who had met him and spent quality time with him.
Rob
Aw crap! I thought he'd make it to 100! R.I.P., Mr. McCarthy!
RIP to a truly gentle-man. He will be missed.
Bill S.
Quote from: CinemBill on September 12, 2010, 05:28:47 PM
RIP to a truly gentle-man. He will be missed.
Bill S.
Friend Bill--you are surely right on both counts.
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Saw him at Chiller numerous times. Always one of those rare guests who really enjoyed being there, meeting and greeting his fans, smiling all the time. An iconic figure who will be sorely missed. RIP Mr. McCarthy and thank you for all the wonderful memories.
I just saw this and was shocked.A truly nice man and as Robert said I to enjoyed his role in A Big Hand for the Little Lady.Its one I can watch over and over.Met him at Wonderfest and was very funny to me.RIP
RIP Kevin. Thank you for your wonderful performances.
Brian K
Shoot...........another icon gone. Thanks for the memories KM.
Thanks for all the great characters, Kevin. Rest In Peace. :'(
One of the times I met him (at Wonderfest, I think it was) I talked to him about his appearance in this TWILIGHT ZONE once--he had happy memories of being in it. And of appearing with actress Estelle Winwood..."Now THERE was a CHARACTER!"
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"You're next!"
RIP..Mr.McCarthy
8)
RIP Kevin McCarthy...a great actor, and he was really very, very funny when called upon to be. Did some marvelous stuff with Joe Dante. A really classic guy.
He sounded like a great guy!! RIP.
RIP and thanks!
Another legend passes.Got to spend quite a bit of time with Kevin at the Bash.What a genuin gentleman and a truely funny person.I ill miss you my friend!
Discussed Kevin's passing with Sara Karloff last night and she called him "a lovely, funny man!" And so he was. I have one McCarthy story I've told over and over, and I'll tell it here for the last time. It has to do with this photo:
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Kevin was funny in a dry, straight-faced way. It was something he did very, extremely well. This is an experience I had with him the very first time I met him--it was at a Wonderfest, I think-- one thing that Kevin told me--or I should say, that hook he baited and set for me, which I swallowed instantly--keeps coming to mind and making me smile. He had this horrendous mess of 8x10s on his table, a whole schmeer of photos for sale higgledy-piggledy--just one huge HEAP--and I pawed through them and came upon the one I'm showing above here. I had already had him sign a BODYSNATCHER one and a TWILIGHT ZONE one--and this childhood photo was, to me, a really unusual thing to find. I said, "Oh, hey, I've got to get this one--" And I handed it to him, and he got this "reminiscing" look on his face--a faraway look in his eyes (ACTING!)--and he said, softly, "You know, I remember the day this photograph was taken--I remember my mom and dad taking me to that studio...I was just 3 yrs old..." I said, "Oh gosh, you remember that!" (The hook was set) Kevin said, "Yep, I sure do! I even remember what I said to the photographer..." I was completely in his power then--expecting some sweet childhood-memory... He continued, "Yep--my mom and dad took me into the studio, and I looked around...and I said to the photographer....'Helluva nice place ya got here!' " My jaw must have dropped, or at least I know I looked like I'd been pole-axed. He went from serious-faced to that rascally rotten twinkling-eye look (if you were around Kevin any length of time at a con, you'd see this look!) and he grinned hugely--pleased that another innocent soul had been suckered into a McCarthy tall tale! He truly WAS a great guy.
What an awesome guy. HE was always so full of energy. The last time he was at Chiller he'd turned 91. I asked him when he was going tor etire and he said he couldn't, that he had two children in college and they were bleeding him dry. He joked around so often I could never tell if he was serious on that one.
Around 1980, my sister was working at a summer stock theatre in Terrytown, NY. They were planning Equus, with James Daly, who played the older doctor in Medical Center, as the psychiatrist. If you know the play, you know that it is incredibly talky and that the psychiatrist is, IIRC, on stage continuously, often delivering monologues.
Well, James Daly died about a week before opening night. With some scrambling, the producers managed to get Kevin McCarthy to come in, with only about 4 days of rehearsals. I went opening night, and he was very, very good. He, unobtrusively, kept the book in his hand and, once, called for a line, but the audience, who knew he came in at the last minute, gave him an extended ovation at the end. (According to my sister, that was the only time he missed a line, and by the third performance didn't need the book anymore.)
KNX AM News radio has been playing his last line today, from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' was one of the first movies I can remember seeing, and has always been a favorite. His fantastic acting brought the Jack Finney story alive, and to a child's mind, very believable. Sleep well Mr. McCarthy, and thanks for the warning....and the memories. Rest easy.
Hey Tyfooforme and MDG; great stories.
R.I.P. Mr. Carthy.
Kevin McCarthy was a truly nice guy and always so gracious to his fans unlike a lot of celebrities who sign autographs and grab the dough. (yes thats you Mr. Robert Vaughn) He was a delight to talk to and always took time to chat. He WILL be missed.
RIP
He was a dear friend. My gosh, I have so many stories I could fill a book. Sitting beside him at conventions, traveling with him to events near and far, watching him in my backyard as he baited some naive fan into a hilarious gag, sitting with him in my den, as he waxed nostalgic about the theatre, his own life, and life in general. He could always make me laugh, which is why I've spent so much time crying. To this, he would take me to task, and call me a big Nancy. Then he would offer his perfectly pressed hankerchief to dry my eyes.
And then we would drink a few martinis, and talk about how cool it was to be in "Equus." In separate productions, I had played the young patient Alan, and he had played Dr. Dysart. I always thought about us performing it together.
Now, I think, someday we will.
I will miss you forever, my rascally friend.
I loved Invasion of the Body Snatchers! I'm sorry to hear of his passing. Have a safe journey up to heaven.
Quote from: MonsterArt on September 17, 2010, 03:24:21 AM
He was a dear friend. My gosh, I have so many stories I could fill a book. Sitting beside him at conventions, traveling with him to events near and far, watching him in my backyard as he baited some naive fan into a hilarious gag, sitting with him in my den, as he waxed nostalgic about the theatre, his own life, and life in general. He could always make me laugh, which is why I've spent so much time crying. To this, he would take me to task, and call me a big Nancy. Then he would offer his perfectly pressed hankerchief to dry my eyes.
And then we would drink a few martinis, and talk about how cool it was to be in "Equus." In separate productions, I had played the young patient Alan, and he had played Dr. Dysart. I always thought about us performing it together.
Now, I think, someday we will.
I will miss you forever, my rascally friend.
"Rascally" is the word I've used, too. He was a dear old rascal. Frank, yours are the stories that need to be written down and saved for us less fortunate ones who knew Kevin only from brief contact at cons or just from watching him in films. I surely hope that you'll write then all down for us--stories of Kevin, and of Ben Chapman and all the rest you've known so well. Written AND illustrated by you, Frank. It would be a treasure for us fans.
Quote from: typhooforme on September 17, 2010, 10:37:54 AM
"Rascally" is the word I've used, too. He was a dear old rascal. Frank, yours are the stories that need to be written down and saved for us less fortunate ones who knew Kevin only from brief contact at cons or just from watching him in films. I surely hope that you'll write then all down for us--stories of Kevin, and of Ben Chapman and all the rest you've known so well. Written AND illustrated by you, Frank. It would be a treasure for us fans.
Hear, hear.
A versatile actor. I just read this and found out he had passed. I especially liked him in Twilight Zone. Good old Uncle Walt. R.I.P.