Biography for
Patrick Magee (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

31 March 1922, Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK

Date of Death

14 August 1982, London, England, UK (heart attack)

Birth Name

Patrick McGee

Mini Biography

Born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Patrick Magee is a classic example of how certain actors rate the stage far more highly than the screen. Magee was well aware that the vast majority of the films that he appeared in were dreadful (he mostly played sinister villains in horror films), but the money came in very handy in financing his distinguished stage work (he was a favorite actor of Samuel Beckett one of whose greatest plays, 'Krapp's Last Tape', was written specifically for him). However, he did do some outstanding work on film, most notably in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (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

Spouse

Belle

(? - 14 August 1982) (his death) 2 children

Trade Mark

Low, gravelly voice

Trivia

Attended St. Patrick's Roman Catholic College in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

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).

Appeared in many TV, radio and stage productions of the works of Samuel Beckett.

Magee had a reputation as a heavy drinker, which may have caused his premature death from a heart attack at 60.

He and his wife Belle (who, like Magee, was also from Armagh, Northern Island), had twins in London in February 1961. Their son was named Mark and their daughter Caroline.

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.

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