Malachy McCourt

Malachy Gerard McCourt was born in Brooklyn on September 20, 1931, the son of Irish parents Angela (née Sheehan) and Malachy Gerard McCourt Sr.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/books/malachy-mccourt-dead.html|title = Malachy McCourt, Actor, Memoirist and Gadabout, Dies at 92|last = Roberts|first = Sam|authorlink = Sam Roberts (journalist)|date = March 11, 2024|accessdate = March 11, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited|archive-date = March 11, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240311151130/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/books/malachy-mccourt-dead.html|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/movies/another-angle-on-the-family-mccourt.html|title=Another Angle on the Family McCourt|last=Dunleavey|first=M. P.|date=August 24, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 29, 2018|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424030022/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/movies/another-angle-on-the-family-mccourt.html|url-status=live}} By the time of his death in 2024, he was the longest-lived of their seven offspring, following the death of his younger brother Alphonsus in 2016.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/alphie-mccourt-brother-of-frank-mccourt-dies-aged-75-1.2708882 |title=Alphie McCourt, brother of Frank McCourt, dies aged 75 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=July 3, 2016 |access-date=February 20, 2024 |last=Hayes |first=Kathryn |archive-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221044822/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/alphie-mccourt-brother-of-frank-mccourt-dies-aged-75-1.2708882 |url-status=live }} McCourt was raised in Limerick, Ireland, and returned to the United States in 1952.

File:Malachy McCourt 4 by David Shankbone.jpg

McCourt acted on stage, on television and in several movies, including The Molly Maguires (1970), The Brink's Job (1978), Q (1982), Brewster's Millions (1985), Tales from the Darkside (1985), The January Man (1989), Beyond the Pale (2000), Ash Wednesday (2002) and Gods and Generals (2003).{{Cite web |title=Malachy McCourt |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/malachy_mccourt |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311170851/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/malachy_mccourt |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=The January Man |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-january-man/cast/2000111662/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=TVGuide |language=en}} He appeared on several New York City-based soap operas: Another World, Ryan's Hope, Search for Tomorrow, and One Life to Live.{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Malachy McCourt Dies: 'Ryan's Hope' Actor, Brother Of 'Angela's Ashes' Author Frank McCourt Was 92 |url=https://deadline.com/2024/03/malachy-mccourt-dead-1235855123/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Deadline Hollywood |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318031111/https://deadline.com/2024/03/malachy-mccourt-dead-1235855123/ |url-status=live }} He is also known for his annual Christmas-time appearances on All My Children as Father Clarence, a priest who shows up to give inspirational advice to Pine Valley citizens.{{Cite web |last=Strauss |first=Tracy L. |date=September 22, 2010 |title=Malachy McCourt to hold court at the Somerville News Writers Festival Nov. 13, 2010 |url=https://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/7421 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The Somerville Times |language=en-US}}

In 1970, McCourt released a spoken word album on vinyl, And the Children Toll the Passing of the Day, which was produced by David Hess.{{Cite web |date=November 1970 |title=Stereo Review |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1970-11.pdf |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=worldhistoryradio.com |archive-date=February 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215223310/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1970-11.pdf |url-status=live }}

In the 1970s, he hosted a talk show on WMCA.{{Cite news |url=http://observer.com/1998/03/up-next-from-mccourt-inc-brother-malachys-memoirs/ |title=Up Next From McCourt Inc.: Brother Malachy's Memoirs |date=March 30, 1998 |first=Dylan |last=Foley |newspaper=Observer |access-date=January 29, 2018 |archive-date=March 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312144410/https://observer.com/1998/03/up-next-from-mccourt-inc-brother-malachys-memoirs/ |url-status=live }}

McCourt occasionally appeared on various programs on New York City's political radio station, WBAI, as late as 2023.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/nyregion/malachy-mccourt.html|title = Malachy McCourt Still Has a Few Stories Left to Tell|last = Shapiro|first = Laurie Gwen|date = March 12, 2023|accessdate = March 11, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|page = MB1|url-access = limited|archive-date = January 10, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240110210741/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/nyregion/malachy-mccourt.html|url-status = live}} Among the shows on which he appeared were Radio Free Éireann.{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2020 |title=Radio Free Eireann |url=https://theirishgazette.com/2020/04/11/radio-free-eireann/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The Irish Gazette |language=en-US |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528135915/https://theirishgazette.com/2020/04/11/radio-free-eireann/ |url-status=live }} He was also a regular guest artist at Scranton Public Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania, having performed in Inherit the Wind, Love Letters, and A Couple of Blaguards, which he co-wrote with brother Frank McCourt.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Sherri E. |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Malachy McCourt Died: The Search For Tomorrow & Ryan's Hope Alum Passed After A Long Illness |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/search-tomorrow-ryan-hope-alum-213252346.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Yahoo! |language=en-US |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311222508/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/search-tomorrow-ryan-hope-alum-213252346.html |url-status=live }} He hosted a Sunday morning call-in radio forum on WBAI. He also had a short-lived role as a Catholic priest on the HBO prison drama Oz.{{Cite news |date=March 14, 2024 |title=Malachy McCourt, brother of the Angela's Ashes author and a well-known New York hellraiser – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/03/14/malachy-mccourt-frank-angelas-ashes-new-york-actor/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=March 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317074511/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/03/14/malachy-mccourt-frank-angelas-ashes-new-york-actor/ |url-status=live }} McCourt played Francis Preston Blair in Gods and Generals (2003).{{Cite magazine |last=Lenker |first=Mauren Lee |date=March 12, 2024 |title=Malachy McCourt, memoirist and actor on soap opera "Ryan's Hope", dies at 92 |url=https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/malachy-mccourt-memoirist-actor-soap-003528100.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en-CA |via=Yahoo Sports |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318023559/https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/malachy-mccourt-memoirist-actor-soap-003528100.html |url-status=live }}

McCourt was the owner of Malachy's, a bar on Third Avenue in New York City. One of his frequent patrons was his friend the actor Richard Harris, who worked for a short time behind the bar for McCourt.{{Cite news |last=Sweeney |first=Tanya |date=August 18, 2019 |title=Malachy McCourt: 'Frank wouldn't be happy unless he was miserable' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/malachy-mccourt-frank-wouldn-t-be-happy-unless-he-was-miserable-1.3980743 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028044733/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/malachy-mccourt-frank-wouldn-t-be-happy-unless-he-was-miserable-1.3980743 |url-status=live }}

File:MalachyMcCourt.JPG Tribeca's yearly tribute to James Joyce]]

File:MalachyMcCourt2.JPG to an audience at Barnes & Noble in Tribeca]]

McCourt wrote three memoirs, A Monk Swimming, Death Need Not be Fatal, and Singing My Him Song, all of which detail respectively his life in Ireland and his later return to the United States. He also authored a book on the history of the ballad "Danny Boy", and put together a collection of Irish writings, called Voices of Ireland.{{Cite web |last=Goldsmith |first=Margie |date=November 17, 2022 |title=91-Year-Old Irish American, Malachy McCourt, Going Stronger Than Ever |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2022/11/17/91-year-old-irish-american-malachy-mccourtgoing-stronger-than-ever/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318023600/https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2022/11/17/91-year-old-irish-american-malachy-mccourtgoing-stronger-than-ever/ |url-status=live }}

In April 2006, McCourt announced that he would seek to become governor of New York in the November 2006 election as a Green Party candidate. Running under the slogan "Don't waste your vote, give it to me", McCourt promised to recall the New York National Guard from Iraq, to make public education free through college, and to institute a statewide comprehensive "sickness care" system. McCourt polled at 5% in an October 10 Zogby poll, versus 25% for Republican John Faso and 63% for Democrat Eliot Spitzer.{{cite web|title=Zogby Poll: Dems on Top in Major New York Races|publisher=Zogby International|date=October 10, 2006|url=http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1180|access-date=November 1, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103153113/http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1180|archive-date=January 3, 2007}} McCourt was endorsed by Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen soldier in the Iraq War.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p%3D2323 |access-date=November 5, 2006 |title=Peace Mom For McCourt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126000127/http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=2323 |last=Benjamin |first=Elizabeth |date=October 3, 2006 |newspaper=Times Union |location=Albany, New York |archive-date=November 26, 2006 }}http://gpnys.dreamhosters.com/?p=312{{dead link|date=June 2013}} The League of Women Voters excluded him from the gubernatorial debate because he had less than 10% of support in a public opinion poll.{{cite web |url=http://www.gp.org/press/states/ny/ny_2006_10_03.shtml |date=October 3, 2006 |title=Green Party Candidates McCourt and Duncan Tour State, Debate Exclusion Fires Resolve to Reach Voters |access-date=June 30, 2013 |publisher=Green Party of the United States |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618233819/http://www.gp.org/press/states/ny/ny_2006_10_03.shtml |archive-date=June 18, 2013 }} He placed third in the general election, receiving 40,000 votes, or nearly 1%, losing to Democrat Eliot Spitzer.{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Leonard |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Malachy McCourt, Irish-American actor and author, dead at 92 |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/11/malachy-mccourt-irish-american-actor-and-author-dead-at-92/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311182231/https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/11/malachy-mccourt-irish-american-actor-and-author-dead-at-92/ |url-status=live }}

McCourt married Linda Wachsman, and had two children with her: daughter Siobhán and son Malachy III; he had two more children by his second wife, Diana Galin: sons Conor and Cormac.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/nyregion/malachy-mccourt.html |title=Kicked Out of Hospice, Malachy McCourt Wants One Last St. Patrick's Day |date=March 10, 2023 |first=Laurie Gwen |last=Shapiro |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 20, 2024 |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110210741/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/nyregion/malachy-mccourt.html |url-status=live }} He also has a stepdaughter, Nina Galin.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/29/books/lunch-with-malachy-mccourt-rogue-turns-himself-into-saint-blarney-fails-hide.html |title=AT LUNCH WITH: Malachy McCourt – How a Rogue Turns Himself Into a Saint; The Blarney Fails to Hide an Emotional Directness |work=The New York Times |first=Alex |last=Witchel |date=July 29, 1998 |access-date=February 20, 2024 |archive-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221051305/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/29/books/lunch-with-malachy-mccourt-rogue-turns-himself-into-saint-blarney-fails-hide.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/03/nyregion/recalling-a-victory-for-the-disabled.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare |title=Recalling a Victory for the Disabled |work=The New York Times |date=May 3, 2000 |first=Shaila K. |last=Dewan |access-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221061009/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/03/nyregion/recalling-a-victory-for-the-disabled.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare |url-status=live }}

In 1960, he was one of the four founding members of the Manhattan Rugby Football Club.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rugbytoday.com/columns/down-memory-lane-new-york-city-rugby-1975|title=Down Memory Lane – New York City Rugby 1975|last=Freeman|first=Allyn|date=October 19, 2017|website=Rugby Today|access-date=January 29, 2018|archive-date=January 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130091223/http://www.rugbytoday.com/columns/down-memory-lane-new-york-city-rugby-1975|url-status=dead}} Malachy appears in his older brother Frank McCourt's memoirs. He was portrayed by Peter Halpin in the film version of his brother's memoir Angela's Ashes.{{Cite web |date=August 4, 2021 |title=Malachy McCourt Book is Reissued |url=https://theirishgazette.com/2021/08/04/malachy-mccourt-book-is-reissued/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The Irish Examiner |language=en-US |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207040001/https://theirishgazette.com/2021/08/04/malachy-mccourt-book-is-reissued/ |url-status=live }}

In 2023, McCourt told The New York Times that he was ill with a number of health problems, including a heart condition, skin cancer, prostate cancer and a form of muscular degeneration. He died at Lenox Hill Hospital on March 11, 2024, at the age of 92.{{cite news |title=Irish-American actor raised in Limerick has died |url=https://www.live95fm.ie/news/live95-news/irish-american-actor-raised-in-limerick-has-died/ |access-date=March 11, 2024 |publisher=Live95 FM |date=March 11, 2024 |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311151313/https://www.live95fm.ie/news/live95-news/irish-american-actor-raised-in-limerick-has-died/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Humm |first=Andy |title=Malachy McCourt, staunch, passionate, and colorful LGBTQ ally, dies at 92 |website=Gay City News |date=March 19, 2024 |url=https://gaycitynews.com/malachy-mccourt-staunch-passionate-and-colorful-lgbtq-ally-dies-92/ |access-date=March 29, 2024}}

• Death Need Not Be Fatal with Brian McDonald (2017), Center Street, {{ISBN|9781478917052}}, {{OL|34896470M}}
• "I Am Not Myself at All"—essay in The Face in the Mirror: Writers Reflect on Their Dreams of Youth and the Reality of Age (2009), Victoria Zackheim, editor; Prometheus Books, {{ISBN|978-1-59102-752-2}}
• Bush Lies in State (2004), Sensei Publications, {{ISBN|0-9755746-0-4}}
• Harold Be Thy Name: Lighthearted Daily Reflections for People in Recovery (2004), Carhil Ventures, {{ISBN|978-1-56649-296-6}}
• History of Ireland (2004), Running Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7624-3181-6}}
• The Claddagh Ring: Ireland's Cherished Symbol Of Friendship, Loyalty And Love (2003), Running Press, {{ISBN|0-7624-2014-6}}
• Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved Irish Ballad (2003), New American Library, {{ISBN|0-451-20806-4}}
• Voices of Ireland: Classic Writings of a Rich and Rare Land (2002), Running Press, {{ISBN|0-7624-1701-3}}
• Singing My Him Song (2000), HarperCollins, {{ISBN|978-0-06-019593-9}}
• A Monk Swimming: A Memoir (1998), Hyperion, {{ISBN|0-7868-6398-6}}
• Through Irish Eyes: A Visual Companion to Angela McCourt's Ireland (1998), Smithmark Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-7651-0887-6}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060413223916/http://www.malachymccourt.com/ Personal website]
• {{IMDb name|0566663|Malachy McCourt}}
• {{Discogs artist|Malachy McCourt}}
• {{C-SPAN|50018}}

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Category:1931 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American memoirists

Category:20th-century Irish male actors

Category:20th-century Irish male writers

Category:21st-century Irish memoirists

Category:American emigrants to Ireland

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male video game actors

Category:American male radio actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Candidates in the 2006 United States elections

Category:Green Party of the United States politicians

Category:Male actors from Limerick (city)

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:Irish male film actors

Category:Irish male radio actors

Category:Irish male stage actors

Category:Irish male television actors

Category:Irish male video game actors

Category:Irish male voice actors

Category:Writers from Limerick (city)