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Body Snatchers Star Kevin McCarthy Dies at 96
seattlepi ^ | September 13, 2010

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.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: kevinmccarthy
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To: Lurker

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


21 posted on 09/13/2010 11:07:04 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: JoeProBono

It was THE BEST SCI FI movie of it’s time. I still get scared at the pods...


22 posted on 09/13/2010 11:09:10 AM PDT by panzerkamphwageneinz (HALLELUJAH)
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To: TommyDale
Kevin McCarthy also appeared as Marilyn Monroe's estranged husband in the 1961 classic The Misfits, Monroe's last film.


23 posted on 09/13/2010 11:10:03 AM PDT by Liz
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To: panzerkamphwageneinz

24 posted on 09/13/2010 11:12:10 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: JoeProBono

What was the movie with Paul Muni.Thanks


25 posted on 09/13/2010 11:14:27 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: Slyfox
He was also great in "UHF."

Yes, he was.

26 posted on 09/13/2010 11:15:23 AM PDT by OB1kNOb (Contrary to popular belief, America is separated by class.... the political class and all others.)
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To: panzerkamphwageneinz

You should see the movie without the studio imposed opening and closing scenes.


27 posted on 09/13/2010 11:17:12 AM PDT by Ev Reeman
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To: JoeProBono
I remember see this movie when I was about *10 y.o., scared the living sheet daylights out of me.

*(My big brother was the projectionist, I had the privilege of seeing all movies free..)

28 posted on 09/13/2010 11:17:29 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave (To anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a Liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Dr. Ursus

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.


29 posted on 09/13/2010 11:21:10 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: JoeProBono

Thanks. Paul Muni is one of my favorites.


30 posted on 09/13/2010 11:23:27 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: JoeProBono

I’m sorry to hear it. He was very talented, and I always liked him.


31 posted on 09/13/2010 11:30:42 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: JoeProBono

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.


32 posted on 09/13/2010 11:35:39 AM PDT by mc5cents
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To: agere_contra

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.


33 posted on 09/13/2010 11:36:31 AM PDT by Verbosus (/* No Comment */)
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To: agere_contra; JoeProBono

Oops:

It looks like JoeProBono pointed out the cameo in post#1.

Sorry ‘bout that.


34 posted on 09/13/2010 11:39:38 AM PDT by Verbosus (/* No Comment */)
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To: Verbosus

Photo Tour: The Misfits


35 posted on 09/13/2010 11:51:51 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: Red Badger

McCarthy looks help up pretty well for a guy who hadn’t slept in 54 years.


36 posted on 09/13/2010 11:57:48 AM PDT by kevao
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To: Red Badger

McCarthy’s looks held up pretty well for a guy who hadn’t slept in 54 years.


37 posted on 09/13/2010 11:59:05 AM PDT by kevao
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To: kevao

LOL!.....

38 posted on 09/13/2010 12:00:08 PM PDT by Red Badger (No, Obama's not the Antichrist. But he does have him in his MY FAVES.............)
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To: JoeProBono

McCarthy was a great character actor. He was in at least one episode of “The Twilight Zone”.


39 posted on 09/13/2010 12:03:32 PM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: JoeProBono
I also remember him from an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” He played a man who was hundreds of years old, as a result of an elixir that he bought from an alchemist in medieval times. He was eventually confronted and exposed by one of his many wives.
40 posted on 09/13/2010 12:07:11 PM PDT by GreenHornet
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