Actor Kevin McCarthy died 12 September 2010 of undisclosed causes. Born 15 September 1914 in Seattle, Washington, he’ll be best remembered as Doctor Miles J. Bennell, who was shouting “You’re Next” in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). He also had a cameo in the 1978 remake, which starred Donald Sutherland. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Death of a Salesman (1951), and won a Golden Globe as most promising newcomer for the same role.
McCarthy began has acting career on the stage in the 1930s, and first came to fame in his 1938 Broadway debut, in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Elia Kazan picked him for the role of Biff, Willy Loman’s son, in the London stage production of Death of a Salesman, and he brought the role to the screen for his Oscar nomination. His other classic film appearance was in Marilyn Monroe’s last film, The Misfits (1961), in which he played her estranged husband. When John Huston offered him the role, he at first turned it down, because it was too small. In 2003, according to the AP, he said “I finally said I would do it if they paid me $100 a word. Turns out I had 29 words. I should have asked for more.”
His other genre roles include: Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007), Slipstream (2007), Fallen Angels (2006), UnConventional (2004), Early Edition (1997), Mommy (1995), Matinee (1993), Tales from the Crypt (1992), Duplicates (1992), Eve of Destruction (1991), The Sleeping Car (1990), Dark Tower (1987), Innerspace (1987), The Midnight Hour (1985), Invitation to Hell (1984), Fantasy Island (1984), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), The Howling (1981), Piranha (1978), Exo-Man (1977), The Wild Wild West (1968), The Invaders (1967), Great Ghost Tales (1961), Way Out (1961), and The Twilight Zone (1960).
McCarthy was married twice. His first marriage, to Augusta Dabney, ended in divorce in 1961, after 20 years. In 1979, he married Kate Crane. He is survived by his second wife, and by three children from his first marriage and two from his second.