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Prolific actor Kevin McCarthy, best known for 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' dies at 96
L.A. Times ^ | 09/12/10 | Dennis McLellan

Posted on 09/12/2010 12:38:36 PM PDT by Borges

Kevin McCarthy, the veteran stage and screen actor best known for his starring role as the panicked doctor who tried to warn the world about the alien "pod people" who were taking over in the 1956 science-fiction suspense classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," died Saturday. He was 96.

McCarthy died of natural causes at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Mass., said his daughter Lillah.

During a career that spanned more than 70 years, beginning on stage in New York in the late 1930s, McCarthy played Biff Loman opposite Paul Muni's Willy in the 1949 London production of "Death of a Salesman."

Reprising his role in the 1951 film version opposite Fredric March, he earned a supporting-actor Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe as most promising male newcomer.

McCarthy had appeared in several other films and had a string of TV anthology-series credits behind him when he was cast as Dr. Miles Bennell in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," director Don Siegel's thriller about an unsuspecting California town whose residents were being replaced by emotionless alien clones grown in oversized seed pods.

In the film's most memorable scene, McCarthy's frantic Bennell runs into traffic, screaming to motorists, "Stop and listen to me. …. They're not human. … Can't you see? Everyone! They're here already. You're next!"

The low-budget film became an enduring cult classic that was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1994.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: kevinmccarthy; obituary; rip
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1 posted on 09/12/2010 12:38:40 PM PDT by Borges
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To: stylecouncilor

RIP


2 posted on 09/12/2010 12:43:56 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: al baby; Artemis Webb; Extremely Extreme Extremist; lainie; lewisglad; PennsylvaniaMom; ...

ping


3 posted on 09/12/2010 12:44:45 PM PDT by Perdogg (Nancy Pelosi did more damage to America on 03/21 than Al Qaeda did on 09/11)
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To: Borges

RIP, Mr. McCarthy...thanks for scaring the crap out of me when I was much younger...


4 posted on 09/12/2010 12:46:23 PM PDT by who knows what evil? (G-d saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.org.)
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To: Borges

RIP, Mr McCarthy. The remake didn't even come close to your original.

5 posted on 09/12/2010 12:51:51 PM PDT by skeeter
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To: Borges

96. That’s pretty darned good. Still remember him in the middle of the freeway, warning everyone about the “pods!”


6 posted on 09/12/2010 12:51:57 PM PDT by Oldpuppymax
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To: Borges

RIP


7 posted on 09/12/2010 12:55:13 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: skeeter

The 70s remake was quite good though. And it didn’t have that awful studio imposed framing device and ending.


8 posted on 09/12/2010 12:55:19 PM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges

RIP


9 posted on 09/12/2010 12:55:28 PM PDT by IbJensen (Our government is a disease masquerading as its own cure.)
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To: Borges

RIP Kevin McCarthy

I remember him playing roles in all kinds of stuff for many years. Condolences to family, friends and fans.


10 posted on 09/12/2010 12:57:31 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Obama: Epic Fail or Bust!!!)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; Impy

Even in bad movies, he gave memorable performances. RIP


11 posted on 09/12/2010 12:57:47 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Obama's more worried about Israelis building houses than he is about Islamists building atomic bombs)
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To: Borges
McCarthy was in both, but IMO it was one of those stories that was better told in B&W.

Color was somehow distracting, to me anyway.

12 posted on 09/12/2010 12:57:48 PM PDT by skeeter
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To: skeeter

13 posted on 09/12/2010 12:59:30 PM PDT by jimbo123
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To: Borges

This guy worked every day of his life- all over the place; one of those guys you always recognized, but couldn’t remember his name.


14 posted on 09/12/2010 1:00:08 PM PDT by 4buttons
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To: Borges
Why no Obama BC? Giant seed pod. Mr. McCarthy, RIP
15 posted on 09/12/2010 1:01:02 PM PDT by JPG (How much taxpayer $ did Mookie blow today?)
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To: Borges
He was good in Twilight Zone

Kevin McCarthy at “Stars of the Zone” Convention, 8/24/02

16 posted on 09/12/2010 1:02:07 PM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: Borges

96 was a good run! RIP.


17 posted on 09/12/2010 1:03:46 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Borges

Excellent actor. Always enjoyed his movies. And his “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” is the best, truly frightening in black and white. Yesterday’s pod people are today’s hybrids. Don’t know anything about them? Just ask one. ;)

RIP.


18 posted on 09/12/2010 1:05:11 PM PDT by itssme
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To: Oldpuppymax

19 posted on 09/12/2010 1:06:20 PM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: Borges

20 posted on 09/12/2010 1:07:55 PM PDT by KeyLargo
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