- Born
- Died
- Birth namePatrick George McGee
- Height1.73 m
- Born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Patrick Magee is a classic example of how certain actors rate the stage far more highly than the screen. He was a favorite actor of Samuel Beckett, one of whose greatest plays, 'Krapp's Last Tape', was written specifically for him. He did outstanding work on film, most notably in Stanley Kubrick's Orange mécanique (1971) as the crippled writer Mr. Alexander, and in Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), as the chevalier. He also appeared in Joseph Losey's The Servant (1963), Peter Brook's Marat/Sade (1967) and William Friedkin's The Birthday Party (1968). He also appeared in films by such cult directors as Roger Corman, Lucio Fulci and Walerian Borowczyk.- IMDb mini biography by: Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
- SpouseBelle Sherry(1958 - August 14, 1982) (his death, 2 children)
- Low, gravelly voice
- Disheveled hair
- Often played disturbing, sadistic characters
- Often appeared in horror movies
- Intense and severe, often pained delivery of speech
- Although he worked memorably with Stanley Kubrick on two occasions, he had, like many other actors, a rather edgy relationship with the director. He once told an interviewer that Kubrick's direction of him consisted almost entirely of three sentences - "Do it faster", "Do it slower" and "Do it again". He added that the last of these was by far the most frequently-employed.
- Magee had a reputation as a heavy drinker, which may have caused his premature death from a heart attack at 60.
- Won Broadway's 1966 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for playing the Marquis de Sade in Peter Weiss' "Marat/Sade," a performance recreated in the film version of the same title, Marat/Sade (1967).
- When beginning his stage career, Patrick McGee chose to alter his surname to Magee. It's unclear why he chose to do this, although there have been reports that there was another actor named Patrick McGee, and that Magee wanted to avoid confusion.
- Appeared in many TV, radio and stage productions of the works of Samuel Beckett.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content