Kevin McCarthy reprised his role from Don Siegel's original 1956 sci-fi chiller with a stumble-on cameo in Philip Kaufman's laudable late-seventies remake. The character name is the same in both movies
Posted on 09/13/2010 10:19:43 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Golden Globe-winning actor Kevin McCarthy, who played the doctor trying to save his neighbors in the sci-fi film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died. He was 96.
McCarthy died Saturday, a Cape Cod Hospital spokesman told The Associated Press. The cause of death or any other details were not released.
McCarthy's career began on the stage. His 1938 Broadway debut in Abe Lincoln in Illinois earned him membership in the Actors Studio. McCarthy was chosen to play Willy Loman's son, Biff, in the London production of Death of a Salesman, a role which McCarthy also played in the 1951 film, earning a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. He was named New Star of the Year by the Golden Globes in 1952.
McCarthy's best-known role, however, was that of the frantic doctor who tried in vain to warn his neighbors that pod people from space were taking over the people of Earth. The film was a box-office flop, but it has earned cult status since. It has been remade several times, most notably in 1978 starring Donald Sutherland and again in 2007 as The Invasion starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
McCarthy's other film roles included Gathering of Eagles, The Best Man, Mirage, Hotel, The Howling, and Twilight Zone: The Movie, He also appeared as Marilyn Monroe's estranged husband in the 1961 classic The Misfits, Monroe's last film.
McCarthy also appeared on such TV shows as ABC medical drama Breaking Point, The Survivors, The Fugitive, and The A-Team. In 1978, he played Harry Truman in the touring one-man show "Give 'em Hell, Harry," He performed the role in more than 350 venues, according to the AP.
Kevin McCarthy reprised his role from Don Siegel's original 1956 sci-fi chiller with a stumble-on cameo in Philip Kaufman's laudable late-seventies remake. The character name is the same in both movies
It was THE BEST SCI FI movie of it’s time. I still get scared at the pods...
What was the movie with Paul Muni.Thanks
Yes, he was.
You should see the movie without the studio imposed opening and closing scenes.
*(My big brother was the projectionist, I had the privilege of seeing all movies free..)
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.
Thanks. Paul Muni is one of my favorites.
I’m sorry to hear it. He was very talented, and I always liked him.
I think that that movie is reason that to this day I do not like green veggies! I am not kidding. I think the original was in B&W but I KNEW it was a veggie.
Quote:
“A great movie, better IMHO than either of its imitators.”
I agree - but did you notice that in the remake with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy that McCarthy is the ‘crazy guy’ running from car to car on the crowded street screaming that there are invaders?
His tone of voice is exactly as it was in the original.
That has got to be one of the best placed cameos in film.
Oops:
It looks like JoeProBono pointed out the cameo in post#1.
Sorry ‘bout that.
McCarthy looks help up pretty well for a guy who hadn’t slept in 54 years.
McCarthy’s looks held up pretty well for a guy who hadn’t slept in 54 years.
LOL!.....
McCarthy was a great character actor. He was in at least one episode of “The Twilight Zone”.
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