SNATCHED

RIP to Kevin McCarthy, departed four years shy of a century old. His career lasted more than 60 years & included scores of movies, among them A Gathering of Eagles, The Best Man, The Misfits & Death of a Salesman—for which he received an Oscar nomination—countless TV appearances & around 20 Broadway productions. But he’s most remembered by far as the half-crazed hero of Don Siegel’s 1956 paranoid classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, wildly trying to warn disinterested passersby of the subtle alien invasion in the film’s climactic minutes: “They’re already here! You’re next! You’re next!”

McCarthy was one of the first celebrities I ever interviewed, back in he early ‘80s, when his successful touring production of Give ‘em Hell, Harry! headed for Erie. Poor guy—I can still remember the barely-concealed weariness with which he dutifully answered the geeky Body Snatchers questions I asked him after a few perfunctory queries about the show he was actually doing. I think I gained a little ground with him later, when I asked him about starring in Happy Birthday, Wanda June on Broadway, & about his friendship with Kurt Vonnegut.

In his long later years, McCarthy became a familiar character actor in films ranging from The Howling to The Distinguished Gentleman. Let me just say—Kevin McCarthy became the old guy I wish I could become: silver-haired & craggy, rascally & curmudgeonly yet still lovable.