Kevin (I) McCarthy filmography and biography
Date of birth: 15 February 1914, Seattle, Washington, USA
Date of death: 11 September 2010, Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA (pneumonia)
Kevin (I) McCarthy biography
Handsome, chiseled-jaw character actor Kevin McCarthy has appeared in
nearly 100 movies in a career that has spanned seven decades. He also
had some starring roles, most notably the horror cult classic
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He played the
disillusioned son, "Biff", in the 1951 screen adaptation of
Arthur Miller (I)'s classic "Death of a Salesman", for which he
was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and won the Golden
Globe Award for most promising newcomer (male).
He is the younger brother of the late author Mary McCarthy (I)
and distant cousin to former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate
Eugene McCarthy (III).
McCarthy was orphaned at the age of four when both his parents died in
the great flu epidemic of 1918. He was raised by his father's parents
in Minneapolis, Minnesota and later by an uncle and aunt. He graduated
from Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1932.
He attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University,
Washington, DC in 1933, intending to enter into the diplomatic field.
He also attended the University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota in
1936 and the Actors Studio New York, New York. He had roles in two
short-lived TV series: The Survivors with
Lana Turner; and Flamingo Road as "Claude
Weldon", father of the Morgan Fairchild character.
The stage-trained McCarthy frequently appeared on Broadway, as "Jerry"
in "Two for the Seesaw" (1959) and "Van Ackerman" in "Advise and
Consent" (1960). He also played President Harry S. Truman in the
one-man show "Give 'Em Hell, Harry!".
McCarthy has showed no signs of retiring (June 2007). McCarthy is acting
in the film, _Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2000)_, playing the role of
"The Grand Inquisitor", at age 93.
Kevin (I) McCarthy trivia
- Younger brother of writer Mary McCarthy (I).
- Was close friend of Montgomery Clift
- Is a cousin of former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Eugene
McCarthy.
- He has performed his one-man show "Give Em Hell, Harry" (as
Harry S. Truman) for over 20 years, and has played the role in
every state but Alaska and South Dakota. In addition, he won an Obie
award for playing President Truman in another play, "Harry Outside", in
1975.
- Between 1974 and 1980, he appeared in 25 episodes of the "CBS Radio
Mystery Theater."
- Besides reprising his "Twilight Zone" personnae in the 1980s, he is also
noted for his numerous Twix candy bar commercials of that decade.